The doctrine of regeneration

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O THE

DOCTRINE

OP

REaENERATION.

SELECTED FROM THE WRITINGS

OP THE

Rev. STEPHEN CHARNOCK, B. D.

PHILADELPHIA:
PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION.

/

CONTENTS.

FIRST GENERAL TOPIC.

NECESSITY OF EEGENEEATION.

CHAPTER I.
Man in a state of sin or righteousness — His apostacy from God — Its effects on the
rharacter and condition of man— Regeneration universailv necessary — the Law re-
quires it — Man's happiness depends on it — Christ's work had a special reference to
ti — The mission of the Holy Spirit designed to effect it — Necessary to every faculty
of the soul— Natural reason assents to its necessity. ' 5

CHAPTER II.

Regeneration necessary to a gospel state — Contemplated in particular institutions
— Incapable of gospel obedience without it — A corrupt nature cannot produce
spiritual fruits— A new nature required in order to serve God spiritually, vitally,
graciously, voluntarily, joyfully, sincerely, humbly, constantly. 28

CHAPTER III.

Regeneration necessary to friendship and union with God — Necessary to Justification
— To Adoption — To acceptable service-To communion with God — To the communi-
cation of divine blessings to the soul. 51

CHAPTER IV.
The connection of Regeneration with a state of glory — It forms a fitness and aptitude
for it — Prepares for the duties of heaven, such as attendance on God, holy coniem-

f>lation, love and praise — Prepares also for the rewards of heaven, suth as perfect
ikeness to Christ, and fruition of God — Inferences from the discussion. 65

SECOND GEl^ERAL TOPIC.
NATUKE OF EEGENEEATION.

CHAPTER I.

Difficulty of explaining the nature of Regeneration — How it differs from Conversion
— How from Justification — How from Adoption— How from Sanctification — It is
not a removal of the old faculties, nor a change of the essential acts of the soul,
nor an awakening of some hidden, gracious principle of the soul, nor an actual
addition to our nature, nor mere Baptism. 87

CHAPTER II.
What Regeneration is — It is a real change from nature to grace — It is common to all
the children of God — It is the contrary of the former frame — It is universal as it
respects the whole man — It is principally an inward change, a change of principle
and a change of end or object, a change of thoughts and Comforts— It is also an
outward change, in regard to objects and operations. 100

CHAPTER III.

Regeneration considered as a vital principle — As a habit — The renewed nature is

disposed to every good work in disposition and activity — It is naturally, voluntarily,

fervently, unboundedly, powerfully, easily, pleasantly active— Power of grace in

the regenerate renders it difficult for them to sin. 183

3

4 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV.
Regeneration considered as a Law put unto the heart — It is tne law of gr&CA restored
in the heart — It does not make the outward law useless — It consists in inward
knowledge of the law, conformity of the heart to it, affection for it, ability to obey
it. There is a likeness to God in the Regenerate, not in essence, but by participation
— Likeness to Christ and the Holy Spirit — This likeness consists in affections, in
actions, in holiness. The inferences deducible from the doctrine. 143

THIRD GENERAL TOPIC.
AUTHOR OF REGENERATION.

CHAPTER L

God is the efficient author of Regeneration — Man cannot regenerate him^e.f — His
inability general — Does not consist in want of faculties, or insufficiency ol external
revelation, but chiefly in the will, and in innate and acquired habits of sin — hence
there is a total moral unfitness for the work, an unwillingness to it, affections averse
to it, and resistance consequent on the aversion — The power of Satan in him
enfeebles him for the work. 180

CHAPTER II.
The means of grace do not effect Rco'cneration — Neither the Law nor Gospel can
effect it — Man's own moral works do not produce the change — He does not actively
co-operate with God in producing it. Tiio inability of man not to be pleaded as
an excuse for unregeueracy, because wilful and criminal — How the mei>^ of grace
are to be used. 196

CHAPTER III.

God's exclusive agency in Regeneration demonstrated— The Scriptures attribute the
whole work to God — God prepares the heart for it, in8()ires faith, calls forth the
acts of the new creature. The subject and end ot regeneration shows ita
authorship, so the weakness of means. It is evinced also by the peculiar differences
observable in the work. -J14

CHAPTER IV.
The origin of Regeneration — It manifests God's mercy and goodness — His sovereignty
In— His truth- His Wisdom— His Holiness— His Power. Inferences from the
whole. 228

CHAPTER V.

In what way Regeneration is effected— It is a secret work— It is rational— It is a
work wrought in the understanding, removing its indisposition, fixing the attention,
stimulating the r<^asoning faculties and thus producing conviction — It is a vvork
wrought in the will — Tlie will being depraved, it is wrought on by an immediate
supernatural influence — Not compulsive but free, gentle and yet insuperably
victorious — Inferences. 253

FOURTH GENERAL TOPIC.
INSTRUMENT OF REGENERATION.

The gospel is the Instrument of Regeneration— Difference between efficient and
instrumental causes— The Law and gospel compared in this work— The gospel ia
the only and necessary instrument, and yet nothing more than an instrument —
The mode of hs ojieration— General inferences 276

FIRST GENERAL TOPIC.

THE

NECESSITY OF REaENERATION.

CHAPTER I.

Man in a state of sin or righteousness —His apostacy from God
— Its effects on the character and condition of Man —Regene-
ration universally necessary —The Law requires it —Man's
happiness depends on it —Christ's work had a special reference
to it— The mission of the Holy Spirit designed to effect it —
Necessary to every faculty of the soul — Natural reason assents
to its necessity.

These words contain the foundation of all practical
religion here, and happiness hereafter. It is the
principal doctrine Christ, as a prophet, came to teach;
and as a king, to work in the heart.

The text proves the indispensable necessity of
regeneration, by which I mean not a relative, but a
real change of the subject, wrought in the complexion
and inclinations of the soul. As in the restoring of
health, there is a change made in the temper and
humours of the body. .

As mankind were changed in Adam, from what
they were in a state of creation ; so men must be
changed in Christ, from what they were in a state
of corruption. As that change was not only relative,
but real, and the relative first introduced by the real;
so must this. The relation of a child of wrath, was
founded upon the sin committed. Without a real
change, there can be no relative. Being in Christ,
as freed from condemnation, is always attended with
a walking in the Spirit ; and walking is not before
living. For the better understanding this point, 1
1* 5

6

THE NECESSITY

shall lay down some propositions concerning the
Necessity of Regeneration.

There are but two states, one saving, the other
damning ; a state of sin, and a state of righteousness.
All men are divided into two ranks. In regard of
their principle, some are in the flesh, some in the
spirit. In regard of their obedience, some walk after
the flesh, some after the spirit. Some are slaves to
the flesh, others are led by the Spirit : some live only
to self, some live to God. In regard of the exercise
of their minds, their nobler faculty ; some mind the
things of the flesh, others the things of the Spirit.
Some indulge themselves in sin, others place the
delights of their spirits upon better and higher objects.

The scripture mentions no other. A state of enmity,
wherein men have their inclinations contrary to God.
A state of friendship and fellowship, wherein men
walk before God unto all well-pleasing, and would
not willingly have an inward motion swerve from his
will. One is called light, the other darkness ; you
were sometimes darkness, but now ye are light : one,
the children of wrath, the other, children of God.
There is no medium between them : every man is in
one or the other of these states. All believers, from
the bruised reed, to the tallest cedar ; from the smok-
ing flax on earth, to the flaming lamp in heaven; froni
Thomas, that would not believe without seeing, to
Abraham, who would believe without staggering, all
are in a state of life. And all from the most beautiful
moralist, to the most venemous toad in nature's field ;
from the young man in the gospel, who was not far
from the kingdom of heaven, to Judas, who was in
the very bottom of hell ; all are in a state of death.
Mere nature, though never so curiously garnished,
can place a man no higher. Faith, though with many
infirmities, puts us in a state of amity : unbelief, though
with many moralities, continues us in a state of enmity.
These two very opposite conditions mentioned, include
all the human race. The highest endowments of men

OF REGENERATION.

in a state of nature cannot please God. The delight
of God then, supposeth some real change in the object,
which is the ground of that delight : for God is wise
m his delight, and could not be pleased with anything
which was not fit for his complacency. Since original
nature in a man, cannot displease God, unless it be
changed by some fault, because it was his own work;
so our present nature cannot please God, unless it be
changed by some grace, though it be otherwise never
so highly dignified. Whatsoever grows up by the
new Adam, in us, is the offspring of the Spirit ; and
upon these two stocks, all men in the world are set.
Since therefore one is utterly destructive, and cannot
please God, though never so well garnished, (for being
utterly contrary to him, it cannot be approved by
him) the other is absolutely necessary to salvation.

It is necessary upon the account of the fall of man,
and the consequences of it. In Adam we died, '* As
in Adam all died :" therefore in Adam we sinned.
1 Cor. XV. 22. " By one man's disobedience, many
were made sinners." Rom. v. 19. Man cannot be
supposed to sin in Adam, unless some covenant had
intervened between God and Adam, whence there
did arise in the whole human nature a debt, of having
righteousness transfused from the first parent to all
his posterity : the want of this grace, wherein his
posterity are conceived, is a privation, and a crime
which was voluntary in the root and head. This
privation of righteousness must be removed. The
institution of God stands firm, that Adam, and his
posterity should have a pure righteousness. It is not
for the honour of God to enjoin it so strictly at first,
and to have no regard to it afterwards. Now this
privation of righteousness, and the unrighteousness
which hath taken place in the sons of Adam, cannot
be removed without the infusion of grace. For
without this grace, he would always want righteous-
ness, and yet be always under an obligation to have
it: he would be desirous of happiness; but without

THE NECESSITY

it, and under an impossibility of attaining it. Were the
soul of man indifferent to good and evil, the writing
of moral precepts upon it, by good education, would
sway it to walk in the paths of virtue : but it is not
so ; for take two, let them have the same ways of
education, the same precepts instilled into them, as
Esau and Jacob had by their father, who were equally
taught ; yet how different were their lives ? Esau's
bad, Jacob's not without flaws. Education had not
the power to root corruption out of either; no, nor out
of any man in the world, without a higher principle.
There is some powerful principle in the soul, which
leads it into by-paths, contrary to those wholesome
rules instilled into it. Hence ariseth a necessity of
some other principle to be put into the heart, to over-
rule this corrupt bias. Man goes astray from the
womb, as it is in Psal. Iviii. 3. " The wicked are
estranged from the womb ; they go astray as soon as
they be born." There must be something to rectify
him, and expel this wandering humour. Also,

By the fall of man there was contracted an unfit-
ness to any thing that is good. Man is so immersed
m wrong notions of things, that he cannot judge fully
of what is good ; " to every good work reprobate."
Tit. i. 16. The state of nature, or the old man, is
described, "to be corrupt, according to the deceitful
lusts." Eph. iv. 22. Deceitful, seducing from God,
drawing us into perdition, by representing evil under
the notion of good ; which evidenceth our under-
standings to be unfit to judge without a new illumi-
nation ; inward and spiritual lusts, which are most
deceitful, being accounted brave and generous mo-
tions. Lusts or desires, which show the corruption
of the will by ill habits : lust and sin are the mere
composition of corrupted nature ; the whole man is
made up of polluting principles, and vicious appetites.

What was preternatural to man in a state of inno-
cency, became natural to him after his depraved
state. He is carnal, sold under sin. The state being

OF IIEGE.NEKATION. V

already out of order, cannot make the motion other-
wise than depraved : as when a clock is out of order,
it is natural to that present condition of it to give false
intelligence of the hour of the day: and it cannot do
otherwise, till the wheels and weights be rectified.
Our end was actively to glorify God in the service of
him, and obedience to him ; but since man is fallen
into this universal decay of his faculties, and made
unfit to answer this end; there is a necessity he should
be made over again, and created upon a better founda-
tion, that some principle should be in him, to oppose
this universal depravation, enlighten his understanding,
mollify his heart, and reduce his affections to their due
order and object.

Not only an unfitness, but unwillingness to that
which is good. We have not those affections to
virtue, that we have to vice. Are not our lives, for
the most part, voluntarily ridiculous? Had we a full
use of reason, we should judge them so. We think
little of God ; and when we do think of him, it is with
reluctance. This cannot be our original state : for
surely, God being infinitely good, never let man come
out of his hands with this actual unwillingness to
acknowledge and serve him ; as the apostle saith in the
case of the Galatians, " This persuasion cometh not of
him thai calleth you." Gal. v. 8. This unwilling-
ness comes not from him that created you. How
much, therefore, do we need a restoring principle in
us ! We naturally fulfil the desires of the flesh. There
is then a ncicessity of some other principle in us, to
make us fulfil the will of God, since we were created
for God, not for the flesh. We can no more be volun-
tarily serviceable to God, while that serpentine nature,
and devilish habit remain in us, than we can suppose
the devil can be willing to glorify God, while the
nature he contracted by his fall, abides powerful in
him. It is as much as to say, that a man can be willing
against his will. Nature and will must be changed, or
wo forever remain in this sta^e.

IQ THE NECESSITY

Man is born a wild ass's colt. No beast more wild
and brutish than man in his natural birth; and likely
to remain in his wild and wilful nature without grace:
a new birth alone can put oft' the wildness of the first.

Not only unfitness and unwillingness, but inability
to good. A strange force there is in a natural man,
which hurries him, even against some convictions of
his will, to evil.

How early do men discover an afl^ection to vice !
Greedily do they embrace it, notwithstanding rebukes
from superiors, good exhortations from friends, with
the concurrence of the vote of conscience, giving its
Amen to those dissuasions ! and yet carried against all
those arguments, deceived by sin, slain by sin, sold
under it. This is the miserable state of every son of
nature.

Do we not find, that men sometimes wrapt up in
retirement, in consideration of the exccJency of
virtue, are so wrought upon by their solitary medi-
tations, that they think themselves able to withstand
the strongest invasion of any temptation 1 yet we see
oftentimes, that when a pleasing temptation offers
itself, though there be a conflict between reason and
appetite, at length all the considerations and dictates
of reason are laid aside; the former idea is laid asleep,
and that committed which their own reason told them
was base and sordid. So that there is something
necessary, beside consideration and resolution, to the
full cure of man.

No privation can be removed but by the introduction
of another form : as when a man is blind, that blind-
ness, which is a privation of sight, cannot be removed
without bringing in a power of seeing again. Original
sin is a privation of original righteousness, and an
introduction of corrupt principles, which cannot be
removed but by some powerful principle contrary to
it. Since the inability upon the earth, by reason of
the curse, to bring forth its fruits in such a manner as
it did, when man was in a state of innocency, the

OF REGENERATION. 11

nature of it must be changed to reduce it to its origi-
nal fruitfulness. So must man, since a general defile-
ment from Adam hath seized upon him, be altered,
before he can bring forth fruit to God. We must be
united to Christ, ingrafted upon another stock, and
partake of the power of his resurrection : without this,
we may bring forth fruit, but not fruit to God. There
is as utter an impossibility in a man to answer the
end of his creation, without righteousness, as for a
man to act without life, or act strongly without health
and strength. It is a contradiction to think a man
can act righteously without righteousness ; for with-
out it, he hath not the being of a man ; that is, man in
such a capacity, for those ends for which his creation
intended him.

Well then, since there is an unfitness, unwillingness,
inability in a man, to answer his end, there is a neces-
sity of a new Hfe, a new nature, a new righteousness:
there is a necessity for his happiness, that he should
be brought back to God, live to God, be a son of God ;
and this cannot be without regeneration: for how can
he be brought back to God without a principle of
spiritual motion ] How can he live to God that hath
no spiritual life 1 How can he be fit to be a son of
God who is of a brutish and diabolical nature ?

Hence it follows that it is universally necessary.
Necessary for all men — our Saviour knows none with-
out this mark : there must be a change in the soul.
" Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new crea-
ture." 2 Cor. V. 17. There must be the habitation of the
Spirit. " If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is
none of his." Rom. viii. 9. There must be a crucifixion,
not only of the corrupt affections of the flesh, but of
the flesh itself. " They that are Christ's have crucified
the flesh, with the aflfections and lusts." Gal. v. 24.

The old nature must be killed, with all its attendants.
There is no sonship to God without likeness ; no rela-
tion of a child of God without a child-like nature. Let
a man be of whatsoever quality in the world, never

12 THE XEOESSITY

SO high, never so low; of whatsoever age, of whatso-
ever moral endowments ; except a man, every.man be
born again, &c.

And simply necessary. Our Saviour doth not say
he is in danger not to see the kingdom of God, or he
may come short of it; but he shall not, he cannot.
There is no possible way but this for any man ; no
other door to creep in at but by that of a new birth :
salvation cannot be attained without it ; and damna-
tion will certainly be the issue of the want of it. As
there is no other name under heaven, by which we
can be saved, but by the name of Jesus Christ : so
there is no other way under heaven, wherein we can
be saved, but by the birth of the Spirit.

It is necessary therefore in all places, in all profes-
sions. It is not necessary only in Europe, and not in
Africa. Let a man be what he will, in any place
under heaven, he must have a Jesus to save him,
and an Holy Ghost to change him : it is one and the
same Spirit acts in all, and produces the same quali-
ties in all : — let men's religion and professions be what
they will (men are apt to please themselves with this
and that profession and opinion : but) there is no
salvation in any profession, or any kind of opinion,
but by regeneration. It is not necessary our under-
standings should be all of one size, that our opinions
should all meet in uniformity; but it is necessary we
should all have one spiritual nature. It is as neces-
sary to the being of a good man that he should be
spiritual, as to the being of a man that he should be
rational ; though there is a great latitude and variety
in the degrees of men in grace as well as their rea-
sons : some are of little faith, some of great faith ;
some babes in Christ, some strong men. It is not
necessary all should be as strong as Abraham ; but it
is absolutely necessary all should be new born, as
Abraham : no age, no time excludes it.

Righteousness was necessary before the fall. The
new birth is but the beginning of our restoration to

OF RECrNERATION.

1^8

that state we had befure tlie fall. Adam could not
have been happy without being innocent. The holi-
ness of Cod could not create an impure creature.
Without it God could take no pleasure in his work.

After the fall it was necessary; continually neces-
sary from the first moment of the fall. This work of
regeneration is included in the first promise, "I will
put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy
seed and her seed." Gen. iii. 15. Naturally we have a
mighty friendship to Satan, a friendship to his works,
though not to his person. But if any man have interest
in that promise, he must exchange that friendship for
an enmity.

If Jesus Christ, who is principally meant by this
seed of the woman, had an enmity to Satan, then all
Christ's seed must be possessed with the same spirit.
For when the seed of the woman was to break the
serpent's head, it was necessary that those that would
enjoy the fruit of that conquest should be enemies to
the nature of the devil and the works of the devil ;
otherwise they could not join with that interest which
overthrows him. It is unreasonable to think the head
should have an enmity, and the mem.bers an amity:
and we cannot have an enmity to that which is the
same with our nature, without a change of disposition.
It is not a verbal enmity that is here meant : while we
pretend to hate him, we may do his pleasure; and
Satan is never troubled to be pretendedly hated, and
really obeyed. As wicked men do the will of God's
purpose, while they oppose the will of his precept ; so
they do the Devil's will many times while they think
they cross it. There must be a contrary nature to
Satan before there can be an enmity. We are never
enemies to those that encourage us in what we approve.
His nature can never be altered by reason of the curse
of God upon him : therefore ours must, if ever the
league be broken. In Isa. Ixv. 25, it is said, "The
wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion
shall eat straw like an ox, and dust shall bo the scr-

2

14 THE NECESSITY

pent's meat." The nature of men may be changed,
by the gospel ; but dust shall always be the serpent's
meat. The saving some by water in the deluge was
a figure of this inward baptism, which is the answer of
a good conscience towards God, 1 Pet. iii. 20, 21. As
the whole world was so corrupt, that all must be washed
away before it could be restored, so is the little world
of man : the cloud and sea through which the Israelites
passed signified this, as the apostle informs us. Where-
upon some think there were some sprinklings of the
water upon them, as they stood like two walls, to
favour their passage.

Necessary in the time of the law. By the moral
law this renewing was implied in the first command,
of not having any other gods before him. We can-
not suppose that command only limited to a not
serving an outward image. Is not the setting up self,
our own reasons, our own wills, and bowing down
to them, and serving them, as much a wrong to God,
as the bowing down to a senseless image ? nay, worse
than the adoring of an image, since that is senseless ;
but our wills are corrupt, and no more fit to be our
God than an image is fit to be a representation of
him. So that in the spiritual part of the command
this must be included, to acknowledge nothing as the
rule of perfection but God ; to set ourselves no other
patterns of conformity but God ; which the apostle
phraseth a being new created after God.

If all idolatry were forbidden, then that which is
inward, as well as that which is outward. If we
were to have no other gods before him, then we were
to prefer nothing inwardly before him ; we were to
make him our pattern, and be conformed to him ;
which we cannot without another nature than that we
had by corruptioin.

Upon this are those scriptures founded which speak
of covetousness to be idolatry; that if any man love
the world, the love of the Father is not in him : he
doth not love God.

OF REGENERATION. 15

Now the preferring self before God, is the essential
part of the corrupt nature ; therefore all men by the
taw of nature (which is the same with the moral law,)
and the Jews, to whom this law was given, were
bound to have another nature than that which was
derived from Adam, which essentially consisted in the
making ourselves our God. Self-esteem, self-depend-
ence, self-seeking, is denying affection and subjection
to God.

By the ceremonial law more plainly. There duty
was not terminated in an external observance of the
types and shadows under the law; but a heart work
God intended to signify to them in all those legal
ceremonies. As sacrifices signified a necessity of
expiation of sin ; so their legal washings represented
to them a necessity of regeneration.

Therefore God is said not to require the sacrifices
of beasts. " Sacrifice and offering thou didst not
desire, (that is, sacrifices of beasts,) burnt offerings
and sin offerings hast thou not required ;" Psal. xl. 6 ;
viz. as the ultimate object of his pleasure; but as repre-
sentations of Christ, the great sacrifice. So neither
did he command circumcision, and other legal purifi-
cations, for any thing in themselves, or any thing they
could work, further than upon the body; but to signify
unto them, an inward work upon the heart. Hence
they are said not to be commanded by God, " For I
spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in
the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt,
concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices ; but this thing
commanded I them, saying. Obey my voice." Jer. vii.
22, 23. That is, God did not principally require
these, as the things which did terminate his will and
pleasure ; but an obedience to him, and walking with
him, which cannot be, without an agreement of nature*
for how can two walk together, unless they be agreed?
Hence God speaks so often to them of the circum-
cision of the heart; and promises this circumcision
of the heart. "And the Lord thy God will circum

16

THE NECESSITY

cise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed," &c.
Dent, xxxvi. 6. And Paul expressly says, that he
was not a Jew, Rom. ii. 28, 29 ; that is, a spiritual
Jew, one of the spiritual seed of Abraham, who had
the circumcision that was outward in the flesh ; but
he that had that of the heart.

So among us, many confide in baptism, which signi-
fieth nothing to men grown up, without an inward re-
newal, and baptism of the heart, no more than outward
circumcision did to them.

The obligation upon us is still the same. The cove-
nant made with Adam was made perpetually with him
for all his posterity : therefore all his posterity, by that
covenant, were perpetually obliged to a perfect right-
eousness. If God had made this covenant with Adam,
that he should transfuse this original righteousness to
his posterity only for such a time, then indeed, after
the expiration of the term, the obligation had ceased,
and none had been bound to have it, as a debt required
by God : the fault of wanting it, had been removed,
without any infusion of grace ; because the time being
expired, and so the obligation ceasing, it had not been
a fault to want it: neither could Adam's posterity have
been charged with his sin, because the want of right-
eousness, after the expiration of the time fixed, had not
been a sin : but because there was no time fixed, but
that it was perpetually of force, as to righteousness,
which was the main intent of it, we still remain under
the obligation of having a righteous nature.

Now God seeing the impossibility of answering this
obligation in our own persons, by our own strength,
appoints a way whereby we may answer it in a
second head, not annuling the former covenant as to
the essential part of it, which was a righteous nature;
but mitigating it ; as the chancery annuls not the
common law, but sweetens the sev^erity of it.

This latter covenant, is called an everlasting cove-
nant. Not that the obligation of the other to right-
eousness has ceased, but transmitted to another head;

OF REGENERATION. 17

which head cannot possibly fail, as our former did,
who hath both a perfect righteousness in himself, and
hath undertaken for a perfect righteousness in his
people, which he is able to accomplish, and to that
purpose begins it here, and perfects it hereafter. To
this purpose the Scripture speaks of the eternity of the
covenant. " My covenant shall stand fast with him."
Psal. Ixxxix. 28, that is, with Christ: and if his people
sin, as he expresseth it afterwards, " yet my loving
kindness will I not utterly take from him." In this
respect Christ is called the covenant of the people. " I
will give thee for a covenant of the people." Isa. xlii.
6. And the end of placing David, his servant, over
his people, is not to give way to unrighteousness, and
maintain men in an hostile nature against God ; but
that they might " walk in his judgments, and observe
his statutes." Ezek. xxxvii. 24. And that everlasting
covenant of peace he would make with them, is in
order to sanctify them, Ezek. xxxvii. 26, 28. When
God would make a covenant of peace with them, an
everlasting covenant, it was to set his sanctuary
among them, and to let the heathen know, that the
Lord did sanctify Israel. And the end of the covenant,
is to put "his law into the inward parts." Jer. xxxi. 33.
Christ undertook to keep up the honour of God,
which was violated by the breach of that covenant, to
" make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in ever-
lasting righteousness." Dan. ix. 24. This obligation our
second head entered into for us ; and in him we are
complete, even as our head, and as the head of all
principality and power, who hath undertaken for our
perfect righteousness; of our persons, by his own
righteousness ; of our nature by inherent righteous-
ness ; as it follows, " In whom ye are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands, in putting
off the body of the sins of the flesh," Col. ii. 11. This
obligation still remains upon our head, and upon us
in him ; and to him we are to have recourse for a full
answering of it. And this cannot be answered with-

2#

18 THE NECESSITY

out a new birth here, which ends in perfection here-
after. And Christ by a plain precept, hath made it
absolutely necessary now to all under the gospel
administration.

So that no age, no time, no administration, excludes
it. It was as necessary to Adam, the first man, as to
the last that shall be born : for being by nature spiri-
tually dead, there must be a restoration to a spiritual
life, if ever any be happy. God is not the God of the
dead, but the God of the living. What was always
necessary, is absolutely necessary, and admits of no
exception. And therefore the removal of the diaboli-
cal nature is indispensable to him, and to us, since we
are all the posterity of Adam, and the inheritors of his
corruption. How can any in any age enjoy an infi-
nitely holy God, without being changed from their
impurity?

Hence it follows, that it is so necessary, that it is
not conceivable by any man in his right mind, how
God can make any man happy without it. It is not
for us, poor shallow creatures, to dispute what God
can, and what God cannot do ; what God may do by
his absolute power : but yet it seems a contradiction,
and it is not inteHigible by us, how God can make a
man happy without regeneration.

What semblance of reason can be given, that any
one who is a slave of Satan, a child of wrath by
nature, can be made the son and friend of God, with-
out an expulsion of that nature which rendered him
criminal, and restoring that, in some degree, which
renders him innocent.

Without habitual grace, sin is not taken away: and
as long as a man remains under sin, how he can be
capable of any communion with God, I understand
not. For he cannot be at one and the same time
under God's greatest wrath, and his highest love. How
is it possible, that one can have an enjoyment of eter-
nal life, who hath nothing in him, but a relation to
eternal death?

OF REGENEHATION. 19

God made man's nature fit for his communion; man
made himself unfit by guilt and filth. This unfitness
must be removed by regeneration, before this privilege
man had by creation can be restored. Not that this
restored righteousness is the cause of our communion
with God in happiness; but a necessary requisite to it.
No doubt, but God might have restored this righteous-
ness, without admitting man to a converse with him,
if there had been no covenant made to that purpose.
That God may give grace without glory, is intelli-
gible ; but to admit a man to communion with him in
glory, without grace, is not intelligible.

It is not agreeable to God's holiness, to make any
an inhabitant of heaven, and converse freely with him,
in a way of intimate love, without such a qualification
of grace. "The righteous Lord loveth righteousness;
his countenance doth behold the upright." Psal. xi. 7.
He must therefore hate iniquity, and cannot love an
unrighteous nature, because of his love to righteous-
ness ; his countenance beholds the upright : he looks
upon him with a smiling eye: and therefore he cannot
favourably look upon an unrighteous person. So that
this necessity is not founded only in the command of
God, that we should be renewed, but in the very na-
ture of the thing; because God, in regard of his holi-
ness, cannot converse with an impure creature. God
must change his nature, or the sinner's nature must be
changed. There can be no friendly communion be-
tween two of difl^erent natures, without the change of
one of them into the likeness of the other. Wolves
and sheep, darkness and light, can never agree. God
cannot love a sinner, as a sinner because he hates im-
purity by a necessity of nature, as well as a choice
of will. It is as impossible for him to love it, as to
cease to be holy.

This change cannot be then on God's part : it must
therefore be on man's part. It must therefore be by
grace, whereby the sinner may be made fit for con-
verse with God ; since God cannot embrace a sinner

20 THE NECESSITY

in his dearest affections, without a quality in the sin-
ner suitable to himself. All converse is founded upon
a likeness in nature and disposition. It is by grace
only, that the sinner is made capable of converse with
God.

It is not agreeable to God's wisdom. Is it congru-
ous to the wisdom of God, to let a man be his child,
and the child of the devil at the same time ? Is it fit
to admit him to the relation of a son of God, who re-
tains the enmity of his nature against God ? to make
any man happy with the dishonour of his laws, since
he is not subject to the law of God, neither will be ;
one that cannot bear him, but abhors his honour, and
the apprehensions of his holiness ?

Man naturally hath risings of heart against God;
looks upon him under some dreadful notion ; hath an
utter aversion to him : alienation and enmity are
inseparable. " You who were sometime alienated,
and enemies in your minds." Col. i. 21. It doth not
consist with the wisdom of God, to make any man
happy against his will : God therefore first changeth
the temper of the will, by his powerful grace, thereby
making him willing, and by degrees fitting him for
happiness with him.

It is not fit that corruption should inherit incorrup-
tion, or impurity be admitted to an undefiled inherit-
ance: and therefore God brings none thither, which
are not first begotten by him to a lively hope, by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. " Which
according to his mercy, hath begotten us again to a
lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled,
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for
you." 1 Pet. i. 3, 4. It cannot be honourable for the
wisdom of God, to give a right to eternal life, to one
that continues a child of the devil : and bestow his love
upon one that resolves to give his own heart to sin
and Satan.

This of which 1 have now discoursed, is founded

01 REGENERATION. 21

upon men's natural notions in their right reason. Bui
if we look into the Scripture, it is certain there is no
other way but this ; a man without a new birth, can
have no right to happiness, by any covenant of God,
by any truth of God, by any purchase of Christ. God
never promised happiness without it; ('hrist never pur-
chased it for any one without a new nature. No
example is there extant of any person God hath made
happy, without this alteration : nor in the strictest in-
quiries can we conceive any other way possible: there-
fore if there be any one, that hath hopes to enjoy ever-
lasting happiness without regeneration, he expects that
which God never yet bestowed upon any, and which,
according to our understanding, God cannot, without
wrong to his holiness and wisdom, confer upon any
person. I beseech you therefore, let none of you
build your hopes upon such vain foundations : you
must be holy, or you shall never see God to your
comfort.

It is so necessary, that the coming and sufferings
of our Lord and Saviour, would seem insignificant
without it. That this regeneration was a main end
of his coming, is evident by his making this one of
the main doctrines, he was as a Prophet, and teacher
sent from God, to make known to the world, it being
the first he taught Nicodemus. Jesus Christ came to
glorify God, and to glorify himself in redeeming a
people. And what glory can we conceive God hath;
what glory can Christ have, if there be no character-
istic difl^erence between his people and the world 1
And what difl^erence can there be, but in a change of
nature and temper, as the foundation whence all
other difl^erences do result ? Sheep and goats differ
in nature.

The righteousness which is given through our
Mediator is the same essentially as that we had at
first. And his threefold office, of king, priest, and
prophet, is in order to it ; his priestly, to reconcile and
bring us to God ; his prophetical, to teach us the way;

22 THE NECESSITY

and his kingly, to work in us those quaHfications, and
bestow that comely garb upon us, that was necessary
to fit us for our former converse. Our second Adam
would not be like the first if he failed in this great
work of conveying his righteousness to us, as Adam
was to convey his original righteousness to his pos-
terity. As that was to be conveyed by carnal gene-
ration, so the righteous nature of the second Adam is
to be transmitted to us by spiritual regeneration. In
this respect renewed men are called his seed, and
counted to him for a generation; as, "A seed shall
serve him ; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a
generation." Psa. xxii. 30. It shall be accounted as
much the generation of Christ, as the rest are the
generation of Adam ; as if they had proceeded out of
his loins, as mankind did out of Adam's. As God
looks upon believers as righteous through the right-
eousness of Christ, as if it were their own, so he
accounts them as if they were the generation of Jesus
Christ himself.

Christ came to save from sin. Salvation from sin
was more his work than barely salvation from hell ;
"He shall save his people from their sins." Matt. i. 21.
From sin, as the cause; from hell, as the consequence.
If from sin, was it only from the guilt of sin, and to
leave the sinful nature unchanged ? Was it only to
take off punishment, and not to prepare for glory? It
would have been then but the moiety of redemption,
and not honourable for so great a Saviour. Can you
imagine that the death of Jesus Christ, being necessary
for the recovery of a sinner, was appointed for an
incomplete work, to remit man's sin, and continue the
insolence of his nature against God ? It was not his
end, only to save us from wrath to come, but to save
us from the procuring cause of that wrath; not forci-
bly and violently to save us, but in methods congruous
to the honour of God's wisdom and holiness : and
therefore to purify us, " to redeem us from all iniquity,
Call parts of it) by purifying unto himself a peculiar

OF REGENERATION. 23

people, zealous of good works;" Tit. ii. 14, that we
might have a holy nature, whereby we might perform
holy actions, and be as zealous of good works, and
the honour of God, as we had been of bad works, and
to bring dishonour to him.

It was also the end of his resurrection, to quicken
us to a newness of life. Col. ii. 12, 13. Eph. ii. 5, 6.
If any man, without a new nature, could set foot into
heaven, one great design of the death and resurrec-
tion of Christ would be insignificant.

Christ came to take away sin, the guilt by his death,
the filth by his Spirit, given us as the purchase of that
death. In taking away sin, he takes away also the
sinful nature.

Christ came to destroy the works of the devil. " For
this purpose the son of God was manifested, that he
might destroy the works of the devil." 1 John iii. 8.
These works are two ; sin, and the misery consequent
upon it. Upon the destruction of sin, necessarily fol-
lows the dissolution of the other which was knit with
it. If the sinful nature were not taken away, the
devil's works would not wholly be destroyed ; or if
the sinful nature were taken away, and a righteous
nature not planted in the stead of it, he would still
have his ends against God, in depriving God of the
glory he ought to have from the creature ; and the
creature could not give God the glory he was designed
by his creation to return, unless some nature were im-
planted in him, whereby he might be enabled to do it.

Would it then be for the honour of this great Re-
deemer, to come short of his end against Satan, to let
all the trophies of Satan remain in the errors of the
understanding, rebellion of the will, disorder of the
aflfections, and confusion of the whole soul l Or if
our Saviour had only removed these, how had the
works of the devil been destroyed, if we had lain open
to his assaults, and been liable the next moment to be
brought into the same condition ? which surely would

24 THE NECESSITY

have been, were not a righteous and divine nature
bestowed upon the creature.

Christ came to bring us to God. " For Christ also
hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
he nnight bring us to God." 1 Pet. iii. 18. Was it to
bring us to God with all our pollutions, which were
the cause of God casting us off? No; but to bring
us in such a garb, as that we might be fit to converse
with him. Can we be so without a new nature, and
a spiritual likeness to God ? Would that man who
would bring another to a prince to introduce him into
favour, bring him into his presence in a slovenly and
sordid habit, such a garb as he knew was hateful to
the prince? Neither will our Saviour, nor can he
bring sinners in such a plight to God ; because it is
more contrary to the nature of God's holiness to have
communion with such, than it is contrary to the nature
of light, to have communion with darkness. Can it
be thought, that Christ should come to set human
nature right with God, without a change of that prin-
ciple which caused the first revolt from God? Besides,
since the coming of Christ was to please God, and to
glorify him in all his attributes, as well as to save us ;
how can God be pleased with the eflects of Christ's
death, if he brought the creature to him, without any
change of nature, but with its former enmity and
pollution? Will you say his mercy would be glorified ?
How can that be, without a wrong to his purity, and
a provocation to his justice ? Suppose such a dispute
were in God, would not holiness, wisdom, justice,
joined together, decide against mercy ?

But since there can be no such dispute, how can we
conceive that mercy, an infinite perfection in God,
can desire any thing to the prejudice of the honour of
his holiness, justice, and wisdom ?

Well then: if we expect happiness without a renewed
nature, we would make Christ a minister of sin, as
well as of righteousness. As there is a justification

OF REGEi\ERATION.

25

by him, so his intent was to plant a living principle in
1155, whereby we might be enabled to live to him. It
is in vain then to think to find any benefit by the death
of Christ, without a new nature.

The end of the Spirit's coming, manifests it to be
necessary. We are said therefore to be " saved by.
the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy
Ghost." As God by his Spirit, moving upon the face
of the waters, created the world ; so God by his Spirit,
moving upon the face of the soul, new creates all the
faculties of it. Can the coming of Christ, and the
coming of the Spirit, the most signal favours of God
to mankind, be intended for no other end, than to con-
vey to us the mercy of God, with the dishonour of his
holiness ; to change our misery without changing our
nature, and putting us in a capacity both to glorify
God, and enjoy him 1 To what purpose doth the
Spirit come, if not to renew? Whatsoever was the
office of the Spirit, cannot be supposed to be exercised
without this foundation. Can there be any seal of the
Spirit, without some impression made upon the soul Hke
to the Spirit, which is the seal whereby we are sealed ?
Can he witness to us, that we are the children of God,
if there be no principle in us suitable to God, as a
Father; no child-like frame? Is the Spirit only to
bring things to remembrance for a bare speculation,
without any operative effect? Is he to help us in
prayer? how can that be, without giving us first a
sense of what we need, and a praying heart? And
how can we have a praying heart, till our natures, so
averse to God, and his worship, be changed ? He is
a quickening Spirit, " the Spirit gives life." 2 Cor. iii. 6.
How can that be, while we are under the power of
moral death ! He is a Spirit of holiness. Can he
dwell in a soul that hath an unholy nature ? Though
he find men so at his first coming, would he not quickly
be weary of his house, if it continued so ? He comes
to change our old nature, not to encourage it. Whfvt

3

26

THE NECESSITY

fruits of the Spirit could appear, without the change
of the nature of the soil.

From all this it follows, that this new birth is neces-
sary in every part of the souh There is not a faculty
but is corrupted ; and therefore not a faculty but must
be restored. Not a wheel, nor a pin in all this machine,
but is out of frame: not one part wherein sin and
Satan have not left the marks of their feet. " Their
mind and conscience is defiled." Tit. i. 15. It is clear
lo a regenerate soul, that it is so, since by the ligh.
of grace he discerns impurity in every faculty. The
more knowledge of God he hath, the more he dis-
covers his ignorance ; the more love to God, the more
he finds and is ashamed of his enmity: and though in
our imperfect regeneration here, grace and sin are in
every part of the soul ; yet every faculty is in part
renewed : and grace and sin lie not so confounded
together, but that the soul can distinguish them, and
be able to say, this is grace ; this is part of the new
Adam ; and this is sin, and part of the old Adam in me.

Because there was an universal depravation by the
fall, regeneration must answer it in every faculty,
otherwise it is not the birth of the man, but of one
part only. It is but a new piece, not a new creature.
This or that faculty may be said to be new, not the
soul, not the man. We are all over polluted by sin ;
and we must be all over washed by the water of
grace. A whole sanctification is the proper fruit of
reconciliation. "^The God of peace sanctify you
wholly." 1 Thess. v. 23. Reconciliation was of the
whole man ; so was regeneration. Sin hath rooted
itself in every part; ignorance and error in our un-
derstandings ; pride, and self-love, and enmity in our
wills; all must be subdued by grace, and the triumphs
of sin spoiled by a new birth.

It is so necessary, that even the dim eye of natural
reason, has been apprehensive of some need of it. And
therefore it is a wonder, that there should be a need

OF REGENERATION. ^7

of pressing it upon men under the light of the gospel.
Those doctrines that are purely intellectual, and super-
natural, are not so easily apprehended by men, as
having no footing in reason, whereby reason is render-
ed more unwilling to consent to them. But those
doctrines that tend to the reformation of man, carry
a greater conviction, as having some notion of a
depravation, which gives them some countenance in
the minds of men, though not in their affection. Men
cannot conceive any notion of God's greatness, majes-
ty and holiness, but they must also conceive something
necessary to an enjoyment of him (wherein their felici-
ty consists,) besides those natural principles which
they find in themselves. Natural reason must needs
assent to this, that there must be some other complex-
ion of the soul, to fit us for a converse with so pure a
majesty. The wiser sort of heathen did see them-
selves out of frame : the tumult and disorder in their
faculties, could not but be sensible to them. They
found the flights of their souls too weak for their vast
desires: they acknowledged the wings of it to be dipt,
and that they never came so out of the hands of God:
that therefore there was a necessity of some restora-
tive above the art of man, to complete the work.
And I think I have read of one of them that should
say, " That there could not be a reformation, unless
God would take flesh." They had the work of the
law written in their hearts : they knew such works .
were to be done : they found themselves unable to do
them. Whence would follow, that there must be
some other principle to enable them, than what they
had by nature. To this purpose they invented their
purgative virtues ; and by those, and other means,
hoped to arrive to the likeness of God. As they were
sensible of their guilt, and therefore had sacrifices for
the expiation of that, so they were sensible of their
filth, and had their purifications and washings for the
cleansing of that. Hence it was, that they admired
those men that acted in a higher sphere of moral

28

THE NECESSITY

virtue and moderation than others. Some of them
have acknowledged the malady, but despaired of a
remedy, judging it above the power of nature to cure.
Certainly that which the wisest heathen, in the dark-
ness of nature, without knowledge either of law or
gospel, have counted necessary; and since it is second-
ed by so plain a declaration of our Saviour, must be
indisputably necessary. Plato in several places saith,
that there was a certain divine principle in our minds
at first: but that it was abolished, and God would
again renew and form the soul with a kind of divinity.
How vain then are men, how inexcusably foolish, to
neglect both the light of the gospel and that of reason
too ! that spend not one hour, one minute, in a serious
consideration of it, and inquiry after it ! that slight
their own reason, as well as the express declaration
of Jesus Christ ! Oh that men were sensible of this,
which is of so great importance to them.

CHAPTER n.

Regeneration necessary to a gospel state —Contemplated in par-
ticular institutions —Incapable of gospel obedience without it.
A corrupt nature cannot produce spiritual fruits —A new na-
ture required in order to serve God spiritually, vitally, graci-
ously, voluntarily, joyfully, sincerely, humbly, constantly.

Regeneration is also necessary to a gospel state.

Nothing can exist in any state of being, without a
proper form. That which hath not the form of a
thing, is not a thing of the same species. He cannot
be a man that wants the rational form of a man, a
soul. And how can any man be a Christian without
that which doth essentially constitute a Christian?
We can no more be Christians, without a Christian
nature, than a man can be a man without human

OF REGENERATION. 29

nature. Grace only gives being to a Christian, and
constitutes him so. " By the grace of God I am what
I am : and his grace which was bestowed on me was
not in vain, but I laboured more abundantly than they
all." 1 Cor. XV. 10. Grace there, is meant of habitual
grace, because he speaks of his labour as the fruit of
it. In bodily life, brutes go beyond us ; in the vigour
of senses, greatness of strength, temperance, natural
affection. In reason, and moral virtues, many hea-
then have excelled us. There is something else then
necessary for the constitution of a Christian, and that
is Christ's living in him by a new forming of his soul
by his Spirit. As the body lives by the soul, which
distributes natural, vital, and animal spirits to every
part of the body, for the performance of its several
functions; so the soul lives by grace, which difTuseth
its vigour to every part, the understanding, will, and
affections.

There is no suitableness to a gospel state and
government without it. In all changes of govern-
ment in the world, there is a change in the whole state
of affairs, in those that are the instruments of govern-
ment, in the principles of those that submit to the
government. After the fall of man, God set up a new
mode of government. All judgment was committed
to the Son. "For the Father judges no man, but hath
committed all judgment to the Son." John v. 22.
" And hath given him authority to execute judgment."
Ver. 27. The whole administration of affairs is put
into his hand ; not excluding the Father, who still gave
out his orders in the government; wherefore he saith,
" 1 can of myself do nothing; as I hear, I judge." Ver.
30. There must be therefore some agreement between
the frame of this government, and the subjects of it.
As there is a new Adam, a new covenant, a new priest-
hood, a new spirit; so there must be a new heart, new
compacts, new offerings, new resolutions. New
administrations, and old services, can no more be
pieced together, than new cloth and old garments.

3*

30 THE NECESSITY

The gospel state of the church, is called a new heaven,
and a new earth. Man is by the inclinations of his
corrupt nature, obedient to the lavv of sin. There must
be a cure and change of those inclinations, to make
them tend to an observance of the orders of this new
government, and an hearty observation of it. " Old
things are passed away, behold all things are become
new, and all things are of God," 2 Cor. v. 17, (so they
were before,) but now in a new manner and frame ;
and this is the reason rendered, why every man in
Christ must be a new creature.

All the subjects of this government have been
brought in by this way, not one excepted. Though God
hath chosen some that he would bless for ever under
this evangelical government, yet notwithstanding the
purpose of God, they are in as great unfitness for this
state, as the worst of men, till God, exerting his power,
fashions them to be vessels of honour to himself. It
is not God's choice of any man, which puts any man
into a gospel state, without the operation of the Spirit,
renewing the mind, and fitting him for it. All that
were designed by God's eternal purpose, were to be
brought in by this way of the new birth ; " God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through
sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth.'*
2 Thess. ii. 13. And by this they were fortified against
all those workings of the mystery of iniquity against
the government of Christ and the state of the Gospel,
which would be damnable and destructive to many :
for he had spoken of that before, upon which occasion
he brings this in. " A chosen generation, a holy
nation, a peculiar people," are joined together. Pecu-
liar they could not be, unless they had something of
an intrinsic value in them above others, and a peculiar
fitness for special service, and to offer spiritual sacri-
fices ; therefore called also " a royal priesthood."

The end of the particular institutions, of initiation
or admission, under the two different administrations
of this government, was to signify this : of circumci-

OF REGENERATION. 31

sion under the law, and baptism under the Gospel.
Both signified the corruption and filthiness of nature,
and the necessity of the circumcision of the heart, and
the purification of nature. Hence baptism is called
" the laver of regeneration," Tit. iii. 5, many under-
standing it of baptism. Not that these did confer this
new nature in a physical way, or that it was always
conferred in the administration of them ; but the
necessity of having this, was always signified by them.
Therefore one of the Jews, against the opinion of his
countrymen, saith absolutely, it is a madness to think
that those ceremonies, under their administration,
were appointed only for the purification of the body
without that of the soul. And in Rom. ii. 29, saith
the apostle, '* He is a Jew which is one inwardly, and
circumcision is that of the heart in the Spirit." So
that partaking of baptism, and being intrusted with
the oracles of God, make a man no more a Christian,
than circumcision, &c. did make a man a Jew. He
only is a Christian that hath a Christian nature: the
necessity of this nature was evidenced and signified
both by the one, and by the other.

In every state there are duties to be performed, and
privileges to be enjoyed. So likewise in the gospel
state. Without a new birth, we cannot perform the
one, or be capable of the other.

There can be no preparation to any service without
it. Man's soul at first, could make a spiritual music
to God, till the flesh disordered the strings : and no
music can be made, till the Spirit puts the instrument
in tune again. In Jesus Christ we are created to
good works : therefore no preparation can be before
the new creation, no more than there was a prepara-
tion in the matter, without form and void, to become
a world. What evangelical duties can be performed
without an evangelical impression, without the form-
ing of Christ, and the doctrine of Christ in the heart ;
not only in the notion, but the operative and j)enetra-
ting power of it '? Tiie heart must be first moulded,

32 THE NECESSITY

and cast into the frame of the doctrine of the Gospel,
before it can obey it : " But ye have obeyed from the
heart, that form of doctrine which was delivered unto
you;" or, unto which you were delivered. Rom. vi. 17.
The mould wherein a thing is cast, makes it fit for the
operation for which it is intended. The ship thai
wants any material thing in its make, cannot sail well,
will not obey the direction of the pilot: and he that
wants grace, will be carried away with the breath of
every sin and temptation. All the motions produced
naturally in ways of duty by other principles, cannot
make an aptitude to divine services, no more than a
thousand times flinging up a stone into the air, can
produce any natural fitness in it for such an elevation.
Where should we have any preparation ? It cannot
be from Adam ; he died a spiritual death by his sin,
and had no natural fitness for any spiritual service ;
and therefore cannot convey by nature more to his
posterity than what he had by nature. What grace
he had afterwards, was bestowed upon his person, not
upon the nature which was to be transmitted to his
posterity.

Therefore we cannot perform any ev^angelical ser-
vice without a new nature. If we have no natural
preparation, we can have no natural action. The law
must be written in our hearts, before it be formed into
the Hfe : " I will put my law in their inward parts, and
write it in their hearts." Jer. xxxi. 33, 34. It is then,
and then only, that we have a practical and afl^ec-
tionate knowledge of God : " and they shall know me
from the least unto the greatest." Restoration to a
supernatural life, must be, before there can be super-
natural actions; a just nature, before a just walk;
as Hosea xiv. 9. " The just shall walk in them ;" that
is, in the ways of God. The motion of the creature,
is not the cause, but the effect of life : the evangelical
service is not the cause of righteousness, but the
effect. We cannot walk in one commandment of God,
till the law be written in our inward parts. Those

OF REGENERATION. 33^

that have not a new heart, cannot walk in God's
statutes. We can never answer the terms of the
covenant, without a new nature. For, no act can
transcend the principle of it. There is a certainty in
this rule; that the elevation of an inferior nature to the
acts of a superior nature, cannot be, without some in-
ward participation of that superior nature. The opera-
tion of every thing, follows the nature of the thing. A
beast cannot act like a man, without partaking of the
nature of a man ; nor a man act like an angel, without
partaking of the angelical nature. How then can a
man act divinely, without a participation of the divine
nature 1 Duties of a. supernatural strain, as evangelic
duties are, require • a supernatural frame of spirit.
Nothing can exceed the bounds of its nature ; for then
it would exceed itself in acting. Whatsoever service
therefore doth proceed from mere nature, cannot
amount to a gospel service, because it comes not from
a gospel principle. We cannot believe without a
habit of faith, nor love without a habit of love: for this
alone renders us able to perform such acts. Justifica-
tion is necessary to our state, as well as regeneration :
but regeneration seems to be more necessary to our
duties than the former ; this principally to the per-
formance of them ; the other to the acceptance of
them.

The nature doth always tincture the fruit of it. Our
Saviour, by his interrogation, implies an impossibility,
that those that are evil, should speak good things.
"0 generation of vipers, how can you, being evil,
speak good things ? for out of the abundance of the
heart, the mouth speaketh." Matt. xii. 34. The very
hissings of a viper, proceed from the malice of its
nature. As the root is, so is all the fruit. From one
seed many grains arise, yet all partake of the nature
of that seed. Streams partake of the quality of the
fountain. If the seed, root, and fountain be good, so
is whatsoever springs from them. There is not one
righteous man by nature, neither Jew nor Gentile, al]

34 THE NECESSITY

are concluded under sin. " There is none righteous,
no, not one; none that understands and seeks God,"
&c. Rom. iii. 10. He adds "not one," twice; he ex-
empts none : not one righteous by nature ; not one
righteous action by nature : none that doth good, no,
not one. He applies it to all mankind. A poisonous
nature can produce nothing but poisonous fruit. Our
actions smell as rank as nature itself. Whatsoever
riseth from thence, though never so specious, and well
coloured, is evil, and unprofitable. If therefore we
would produce good fruit, we must have a new root,
seed and spring. Our sour nature must be changed
into a sweetness and purity. If the vine be empty,
the fruit will be so too. "Ephraim is an empty vine;
he brings forth fruit to himself," or equal to himself.
Hosea x. 1. Unless the tree be good, the fruit can
never be generous. "Neither can a corrupt tree
bring forth good fruit." Matt. vii. 17, 18. We must
have the Spirit, before we can bring forth the fruits
of the Spirit. All good services are related to this,
as effects, to their cause : so that what a man doth by
an act of reason, and natural conscience, and good
education, if his understanding, and conscience, re-
main wholly under their natural pollution, the service
is not good, because the soul is corrupt : much less
are those services good, which are the fruit only of
humour. How the soul can be habitually sinful, and
yet the acts flowing from it, be good, is not easily
conceivable ; it is against the stream of natural obser-
vation. It is true indeed, that a man that is habituated
to one kind of sin, may do an action that receives no
tincture from that particular habit, because it doth
not proceed from it: as a drunkard may give alms;
his giving alms hath no infection inherent from that
particular habit of drunkenness ; but from the nature,
which is wholly corrupt, it hath: who can bring a
clean thing out of an unclean? not one. Who can
bring a clean service out of an impure heart? Not
one man in the world. We cannot therefore perform

OP REGENERATION. 35

any evangelical service, if those foundations be con-
sidered.

Not spiritually, because we are flesh. God must
be worshipped in spirit : in a spiritual manner, with
spiritual frames. The apostle speaks of walking in
the Spirit; and praying in the Holy Ghost. None can
act spiritually, but those that are born of the Spirit ;
and no action is spiritual, but what proceeds from a
renewed principle. The most glittering and refined
flesh, is but flesh in a higher sphere of flesh: therefore
whatsoever springs up from that principle, is fleshly,
upon the former foundation, that nothing can rise
higher than its nature. You may as well expect to
gather grapes of thorns, as spiritual duties from car-
nal hearts. *' Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs
of thistles?" Matt. vii. 16. If a natural man cannot
receive, and cannot know the things of God, because
they are spiritually discerned, how should he perform
the duties belonging to God, since they are spiritually
to be performed ? We are naturally more averse to
motions upon our wills, than to the illuminations of
our minds ; an appetite for knowledge, and a flight
from God, being both the fruits of Adam's fall, who
was both curious to know, as God, and fearing to
approach to God after his fall. There may be some
services in natural men, which may look like spiritual;
but in the principle they are not so. Many acts are
done by irrational creatures, which look like rational
acts. As the order among bees, like the acts of states-
men, regulating a commonwealth ; their carrying
gravel in their fangs, to poise them in a storm, and
ninder them from being carried away by the violence
of the wind; yet these are not rational acts, because
they proceed not from reason, but from a rational in-
stinct put into them by God, the supreme Governor.
So tiiat as no action of an ape, though like the action
of a man, can be said to be a human act; so no action
of an unregenerate man, though like a spiritual action,
can be called spiritual, because it proceeds not from

36 THE NECESSITY

a spiritual principle, but from a contrary one para-
mount in him. And all actions have their true
denomination from the principle whence they flow.
They may be fruits of morality, and fruits of consci-
ence, but not spiritual fruits which God requires.

Well then: we must be first built up a spiritual
house, we musl be a priesthood, before we can offer
spiritual sacrifice. We must have the powerful ope-
ration of the Holy Ghost in us, before we can have the
influence of the Holy Ghost upon our services. In all
human acts, we should act as rational creatures : in
all religious acts, as spiritual creatures. Now as a
man cannot act rationally, without reason ; so neither
can we act spiritually, without a divine Spirit in us.
We are indeed to serve God, and worship him as
men: therefore rational acts are due to God, in wor-
ship, and we are constituted in the rank of rational
beings to that purpose. But since our minds are de-
filed, they must be purified; since our understandings
are darkened, they must be enlightened. There must
be a grace infused, a lamp set up, a spiritual awaken-
ing, and invigorating our reasons and wills, before
we can worship God, as God, in a spiritual manner.

We cannot perform any evangelical service, vitally,
because we are dead. Our services must be living
services, if in anywise they be suitable to a living
God. The apostle wishes us *' to present our bodies
a living sacrifice." Rom. xii. 1. He doth not mean
only our bodies, consisting of flesh and bones, or a
natural life; but he names the body, as being the in-
strument of motion and service, a part for the whole.
Present yourselves as a sacrifice consecrated to God,
and living to him, and as living by him.

Upon the loss of original righteousness, another
form or principle was introduced, called in Scripture,
flesh, and a body of death. Hence, by nature we are
said to be dead ; and all our works before repentance,
are dead works. And these works have no true
beauty in them, with whatsoever gloss they may ap-

OF REGENERATION. 37

pear to a natural eye. A dead body may have some-
thing of the features and beauty of a living ; but it is
but the beauty of a carcass, not of a man. A statue,
by the stone-cutter's art, and the painter's skill, may
be made very comely ; yet it is but a statue still ;
where is the life ? Such services are but the works
of art, as flowers painted on a wall, with curious
colours ; but where is the vegetative principle. Since
man therefore is spiritually dead, he cannot perform
a living service. As a natural death doth incapacitate
for natural actions ; so a spiritual death must incapa-
citate for spiritual actions : otherwise in what sense
can it be called a death, if a man in a state of nature
were as capable of performing spiritual actions, as
one in a state of grace 1 No vital act can be exer-
cised without a vital principle. As Adam could not
stir to perform any action, though his body was
framed and perfected, till God breathed into him a
living soul ; so neither can we stir spiritually, till God
breathe into us a living grace. Spiritual motions can
no more be without a spiritual life, than bodily mo-
tions can be without an enlivening soul. The living,
the living, they shall praise thee : and Psa. xxx. 18.
" Quicken us and we will call upon thy name." There
can be no living praise, nor any living prayer, with-
out a renewed heart. If it be one effect of the blood
of Christ, " to purge our consciences from dead works
to serve the living God," as Heb. ix. 14; then it is
clear, that till our consciences are purged from dead
works, we cannot serve the living God : for what
suitableness can there- be between a living God, and
dead services ? Is a putrefied carcass a fit present
for a king? or a man full of loathsome disease, fit to
serve in a prince's chamber? Our best services,
without a new nature, though they may appear varn-
ished and glittering to man, yet in the sight of God,
have no life, no substance, but are an abomination,
because coming from a dead and rotten heart.

Well then, we must be born again : it is not a dead
4

88 THE NECESSITY

nature, nor a dead faith, can produce living fruit for
God. We may as well read without eyes, walk with-
out legs, act without life, as perform any service to
God without a new nature. No, we cannot perform
the least: a dead man can no more move his finger,
than his whole body.

Not graciously, because we are corrupt. By the
same reason that we are to speak with grace, and to
sing with grace in our hearts to the Lord; we are to
do every other duty with an exercise of grace to God:
and without grace our praises are but bowlings,
our prayers but bowlings, as the Scripture terms
them ; " They have not cried to me with their hearts,
when they howled upon their beds." Hosea vii. 14.
How can there be an exercise of that which is not ?
The skill of the musician cannot discover itself, till
the instrument be made tunable. The heart must be
strung with grace by the Spirit, before that Spirit can
touch the strings, to make harmony to God in a gospel
service. Our tempers must be changed, our hearts
fitted, before we can make melody to God. The
principal beauty and glory of a duty, lie in the inter-
nal workings of the heart: and how can that heart
work graciously, that hath nothing of God, and his
grace in it 1 It is said, folly is bound up in the heart
of a child. So is corruption like poison in the heart
of a man. It is entered into the very composition of
us. A law of sin is predominant in a natural man,
which doth influence all his actions ; and all his ser-
vices are regulated by it: for he hath no other law in
his mind, to check the motions of it, and to scent his
duties, whereby they may carry a pleasing savour to
God. The gift of prophecy, the understanding of
mysteries, the depth of knowledge, the removing
mountains, bestowing alms, dying for religion, are
brave and noble acts ; but without charity (love to
God,) without which no other grace can work, all
these profit nothing. There is a moral goodness in
feeding the poor; but no gracious goodness without

OF REGENERATION. 39

charity. A little of this, would make those as a
diamond doth gold, wherein it is set, more valuable.
If all those profit nothing, without this grace of
charity, they would profit much with it. How doth
grace alter the very nature of services ! Those acts
which are sensitive in a brute, were he transformed
into a man, and endued with reason, would become
rational. Those actions which are but moral in a
mere man, when changed into Christian, become
evangelical : they would be of another nature, and
another value.

Well then, look after the new birth, since it is so
necessary. There cannot be gracious practice, with-
out gracious principle. Can any thing fly to heaven
without wings ? We are to walk as Christ walked :
how can we do it without a principle akin to that
which Christ had 1 We are bound to act from a
principle of righteousness. Adam was, and his pos-
terity are ; and should we not look after that which
is so necessary a perfection, requisite for our services?
No doubt but the devil could find matter enough for
prayer, and from the excellency of his knowledge,
frame rare strains (as some word it:) but would it be
a service which came from such a nature 1 As long
as we are allied to him in our nature, our services
will be of as Httle value. He transforms himself into
an angel of light, but is still a devil; and many men
do so in their religious acts, yet still remain unre-
generate.

We cannot perform spiritual services freely, and
voluntarily, because we are at enmity. A natural
man's services are forced, not free. The aversion of
our natures to God, is as strong as their inclination
to evil. We have no fervent desires to love God ; and
therefore no desires to do any thing out of aflection
to him. When sensual habits are planted in the soul,
there is an enmity to God in the mind : it will not be
subject to the law of God : and whilst that habit
sways, it cannot. This inclination to sin, and conse-

40 THE NECESSITY

quently aversion to good, is incorporated in nature,
like blackness in a negro, or spots in a leopard ; they
are accustomed to sin, and cannot do good. There
is no *agreeableness between God and man's soul,
whilst there is a friendship between the heart and sin:
he affects the one, and is disgusted with the other:
one is his pleasure, the other his trouble. He hath no
will, no heart to come to God in any service ; and
when he doth, he is rather dragged, than sweetly
drawn. The things of God are against the beut of a
natural heart : there is nothing so irksome as the most
spiritual service. When men engage in them, they
row against the stream of nature itself. There must
therefore be something of a contrary efficacy to over-
power this violent tide ; a law of grace to renew the
mind, and turn the motions of the will to another
channel. Restraining grace may for a while stop the
current, but not turn and change the natural course.
A carnal mind conceives the things of God, and his
spiritnal service to be foolishness ; and therefore con-
demns them. The eye of the mind must be opened,
to discern the wisdom of God in them, before he can
love them. The heart should be lifted up in the evan-
gelical ways of God. Can mere flesh be thus? Force
can never change nature. You may hurl lead up into
the air, but it will never ascend of itself, while it is
lead, unless it be rarified into air or fire. Keep up
iron many years in the air, by the force of a load-
stone, it will retain its tendency to fall to the earth, if
the obstacle be removed : the natural gravity is sus-
pended, nor altered. Till the nature of the will be
altered, it can never move freely to any duty. There
must be a power to will, before there is a will to do ;
as Phil. ii. 18 ; " It is God which works in you both
to will and to do." A supernatural renewing grace
must expel corrupt habits from the will, and reduce it
to its true object. When faith is planted, it brings
love to work by : when the soul is renewed, there is
an harmony between God and the heart, between the

OF REGENERATION. 41

mind and the word, between the will and the duty;
when the appetite, and true taste of the soul, is re-
stored in regeneration, then spring up strong desires
to apply itself to every holy service. The sincere
milk of the word is frequently desired, after it is
spiritually tasted. 1 Peter ii. 2, 3.

Well then, there must be a change in us, or in the
law. The law is spiritual, man is carnal ; the law can
have no friendship for man, nor man any friendship
for the law in this state, since their natures are so con-
trary. What the law commands, is disgustful to the
flesh ; what the flesh desires, is displeasing to the law.
There must then be a change ; the law must become
carnal, or man become spiritual, before any agree-
ment can be between them. Where do you think this
change must take place 1 It can never be in the law ;
therefore it must be in man. The wound in our wills
must be cured; the tide of nature, that never carries
us to God, must be turned, and altered by a stream
of grace, to move us to him and his service. Man
hath been a slave to his lust by the loss of grace, and
is never like to be restored to his liberty in the ser-
vice of God, till he be re-possessed of that grace, the
loss of which brought him into slavery. The Gospel
is a law of liberty. A servile spirit doth not suit a
free law, neither is it a fit frame for an evangelical
service.

We can never perform spiritual services with de-
light, because we are alienated. This we are to do.
Paul delighted in the law of God ; and the law was
the delight of David : his whole pleasure ran in this
channel. Now because of that aversion to God, there
is no will and freedom in his service ; much less can
there be a delight. A corrupt nature can have no
divine strains : a diseased man hath no delight in his
own acts ; his distemper makes his motion unpleasant
to him. Things that are not natural, can never be
delightful. There is a mighty distance between spiri-
tual duties, and a carnal heart. Things out of theii
4*

42 THE NECESSITY

place can never be at rest. Sin is as much a natural
man's element, as water to a fish, or air to a bird. If
he be stopped in the ways of the flesh, he is restless
till he return. He may indeed have some delight
sometimes in a service ; not as it respects God as the
object, or God as the end : there is no such friendship
in a natural man's heart to him ; but as there is an
agreement between a service, and some carnal end he
performs it for. His delight is not terminated in the
service, but in self-love, self-interest, or some external
reward ; anchored in it by some hopes of carnal advan-
tage ; not springing from a living love, or a gracious
affection to God. He hath no knowledge of God ; and
therefore can have no delight in God, or in his service.
It is impossible we can come before him without plea-
sure and delight, if we know how amiable he is in his
person, and how gracious in his nature : but we natu-
rally think God a hard master. And man having no
delight in God, can have none in those means which
lead him to God, and as they are appointed to bring
God and his soul together. He hath wrong notions
of duties, looks upon them as drudgeries, not as advan-
tages : ** Ye said, Behold what a weariness it is," &c.
Malachi i. 13. Without a change of nature, we can-
not desire communion with God; and therefore cannot
delight in the means of it. We can never be in a holy
extasy, without this inward principle, to make the
Gospel services connatural to us. This alone makes
high impressions upon the soul. It is the law within
our hearts, which alone makes us delight to do his will,
" Thy law is within my heart." Psalm xl. 8. He had
a natural affection to it, and then a high delight in it.
It made our Saviour delight to do his work : and it
was the inward man of the heart, wherein the apostle's
delight in the law was placed. Unless we have a
divine impression of God upon us, we cannot hear his
word with any joy in it; as our Saviour saith, "Ye
therefore hear them not," that is, the words of God,
"because ye are not of God." John viii. 47. Unless

OF REGENERATION.

we have God's light, and his truth, sent forth into us,
we can never make God our exceeding joy, or go to
his altar with such a frame.

Well then : there is a necessity of the new nature,
to have a warm frame of heart in evangelical duties.
What is connatural to us, is alone delightful. So much
of weariness and bondage we have in any holy ser-
vice, so much of a legal frame ; so much of love and
dehght, so much we have of a new covenant grace.
A spirit of adoption, and regeneration alone can make
us delight to come to our Father and to cry Abba, be-
fore him.

Without regeneration, we cannot perform evange-
lical duties sincerely, because we are depraved, and
in our best estate vanity. God is a Spirit, and there-
fore must be worshipped in spirit. God is truth, and
therefore must be worshipped in truth. Without a
new nature we cannot worship God in truth. The old
nature is in itself a lie, a mere falsity, and contrary to
that nature God created. It was first introduced by
a lie of the devil (ye shall be as gods knowing good
and evil ;) and thereupon a fancy that God lied in his
command. How can we serve God with this nature,
which had nothing but a lie for its foundation; a lie
of the devil, a lie in our fancy? Therefore our old nature
is no better thon a lie. How can we serve God with
this nature which is quite another thing from that of his
framing ? Man in his fall is a liar, " let God be true,
and every man a liar;" Rom. iii. 4, a covenant breaker,
that kept not his faith with God. God, in respect of
truth, and man, in respect of lying, are set in opposi-
tion by the apostle there. INo man, but would slight
and scorn that service from another, which he knew
to be a lying service in the very frame of it. There
can be no truth in any service which is founded only
upon an old nature, and performed by one that is
actuated by the father of lies : and so is every unre-
generate man, every child of disobedience.

No sincerity can be without a new nature, because

44 THE NECESSITY

there are no divine motives which should svv^ay the
soul. Most services of natural men have such cor-
rupt springs, so unsuitable to that raised temper men
should have in dealing with God, that they produce
sacrifices not fit to be offered to an earthly governor.
" If ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil, &c.
offer it now unto thy governor, will he be pleased
with thee ?' Mai. i. 8. Had they had divine motives,
they had never brought such sickly services. What
was not fit for themselves, they thought fit for God.
Did but princes know what motives many had in their
services, they would with as much scorn reject them,
as they do ignorantly receive them with affection.
But it is otherwise with God, who knows all the
springs and wards in that lock of the heart of his own
framing. Do not most services take their rise from
custom, or from an outward religious education
barely ; or at best from natural conscience ; which
though it be all in a man, which takes God's part, yet
it is flesh, and defiled ? And what pure vapours can
be expected from a lake of Sodom 1 " To them that
are defiled, and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but even
their mind and conscience is defiled." Tit. i 15. The
mind, which is the repository of natural hght; and the
conscience, which is the advocate of natural light, and
applies it upon particular occasion, are defiled, and
that in every unbelieving person. Can the motives
which conscience takes from a dark and defiled prin-
ciple, as the mind is, be divine 1 It is fear of death,
wrath, and judgment, which it mostly applies. These
are the motives of defilement. Fear is the natural
consequence of pollution: without sin and corruption,
we never should have had any fear of hell. That
cannot be gracious, which springs naturally from the
commission of sin ; and can this be divine 1 Were
there no punishment feared, there would be no duty
performed. Conscience hath naturally no basis to
stand upon, but this. What is the principle of his
fear 1 self It is not therefore obedience to God, but

OF KEGEKEUATION. 45

self preservation, sways a man. Fear is but a servile
disposition; and therefore cannot make a service good.
All such extrinsic motives which arise not from a new
life, are no more divine, than the weights of a clock
may be said to have life, because they set the wheels
running. The same action may be done by several
persons, upon dillerent principles and motives ; for
which one may be rewarded, the other not, as Mat-
thew X. 41, 42 : " He that receives a righteous man,
in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a right-
eous man's reward; and whosoev^er shall give unto one
of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the
name of a disciple, he shall in no wise lose his re-
ward." One may receive a member of Christ, out of
respect to Christ, and the relation the person hath to
him. Another may receive the same person out of a
common principle of humanity. The action is the same;
the good redounding to the object, is the same : nay,
it may be greater in him that acts from a commise-
ration of him, as a man, than a cup of cold water
from the other, because his ability is greater ; but the
inward respect to the object is different. One respects
him as a man of the same nature with himself in
misery ; the other respects him as a member of Christ
in misery. One respects him as a man, the other as
a righteous man. The principle is diflerent ; one re-
lieves him out of a natural compassion, common to a
heathen with him ; the other out of a Christian affec-
tion to his Head. The actions are therefore diflerent,
because of their motives: one is rewardable, and pro-
mised to be rewarded ; the other not : one may be from
grace, the other from nature. I do not say, it always
is, unless there be a constant tenor of such motives in
our actions : for a natural man, under the preaching
of the Gospel, may do such a thing out of a present
and transient respect to Christ, of whom he hears so
often and hath some presumption to be saved by him ;
but it is not his constant frame.

Therefore from hence results a necessity of the

46 THE NECESSITY

alteration of the frame of our souls, to furnish us with
divine and heavenly motives for our actions. A man
may do a thing by nature, from a good principle, a
principle of common honesty, good in its kind, but not
evangelically good, without a renewed affection to
God. "If you love me, keep my commandments.'*
John xiv. 15. Keep what I command you, out of
affection to me. "Where the imagination of the heart
is evil, and only evil, and that continually," Genesis
vi. 5, all the service a man in that state performs,
riseth from this spring, and hath some infectious
imagination in it, highly abominable to God. Either
wrong notions of God in it, or wrong notions of the
duty, or corrupt motives, something or other of the
evil imagination of the heart, mixes itself with it.

Without a renewed nature, as there are no divine
motives, so there can be no divine ends. We are
bound to refer our natural actions, much more our
religious services, to the glory of God. The end is
the moral principle of every action. It is that which
confers a goodness or badness upon the service: "If
the eye be evil, the whole body is full of darkness."
Luke xi. 34. This is commonly understood of a man's
aim. If the intention be evil, there is nothing but
darkness in the whole service. The perfection of
every thing consists in answering the end for which
it was framed : that which was the first end of our
framing, ought to be the end of our acting, viz. the
glory of God. But man hath taken himself off from
this end, and hath been fond of making himself his
chief good, and ultimate end. Men naturally have
corrupt ends in good duties. Pride is the cause of
some men's virtue : and they are spiritually vicious,
in avoiding crimes, because they intrench too much
upon their reputation. The Pharisees made their de-
votion contribute to their ambition, " They pray to be
seen of men." Matt. vi. 5. " But all their works
they do to be seen of men." Matt, xxiii. 5. There
was not one work wherein they had not respect to this.

OF REGENERATION.

Their works might well be called the works of the
devil, whose main business it was to set up pride and
self. All their pretences of devotion to God, were but
the adoration of some golden image. Have not many
in their splendid actions, the same end with brutes, the
satisfaction of the sensitive part, covetousness, pride,
emulation, sense of honour, qualities perceivable in the
very brutes, as the end of some of their actions ? The
acting for a sensitive end, is not suitable to a rational,
much less can it be the end of a gracious creature.
Have not men sinful ends in their religious services,
in their prayers to God, in their acknowledgment of
God ? The devil could intreat our Saviour's leave to
go into the herd of swine. Was this a prayer, though
directed to Christ, when his end was to destroy, and
satisfy his malice in it? At best, a man without grace,
is like a picture in a room, which eyes all, and hath
no more respect to a prince, than his attendants. A
natural man's respect to God, is but equal to a respect
to all his other worldly concerns. Indeed it were well
if it were so. He parcels out one part for God, one
part for himself, and one part for the world ; but God
hath the least share ; or at best, no more than the rest.
And truly, as a picture cannot give a greater respect,
to fix its eyes more upon a prince than a peasant, be-
cause it hath no life ; so neither can a natural man, pay
a supreme respect to God in his service, without a
spiritual life. There is a necessity then of removing
those depraved ends, that man may answer the true
end of his creation. The principles then upon which
such ends do grow, contrary to the will of God, must
bo rooted out, that the soul may move purely to God
in every service. We are come short of the glory of
God, ** All have sinned, and come short of the glory
of God." Romans iii. 23 ; short of aiming at it, short
of his approbation of our acts. Being thus come short,
our ends cannot rise higher than the frame of our
soul. Grace, grace only can advance our wills to
tliose supernatural ends for which they were first

4& THE NECESSITY

framed. We can never aim at the glory of God, till
we have an affection to him ; we can never honour
him supremely, whom we do not supremely love. An
affection to God can never be had, till the nature
wherein the aversion is placed, be changed into
another frame. We are to glorify God, as God : how
can we do this, without the knowledge of him? How
can we know him, but by the gospel, wherein he dis-
covers himself? How can we have right conceptions
of the gospel, till gospel impressions be made upon
us 1 How can we act for the glory of God, to whom
naturally we are enemies 1 There are none of us
born with a spiritual love to God. There must then
be an alteration of the end and aim in us; our actions
cannot else be good, though ordered by God himself.
God employs Satan in some things ; as in afflicting
Job : but is his performance good 1 No : because his
end is not the same with God's. He acts out of
malice, what God commands out of sovereignty, and
for gracious designs. Our end without it, is not the
same with the end of the action : for moral acts tend
to God's glory, though the agent hath no such inten-
tion. So the action may be good in itself, but not
good in the actor, because he wants a due end.

Well then, those actions only can be said to be evan-
gelical, when the great end of God's glory, which was
his end both in creation and redemption, hath a moral
influence upon every service; when we have the same
end in our redeemed services, as God had in his re-
deeming love.

We cannot without regeneration perform gospel
duties humbly, because of natural stoutness and hard-
ness. Evangelical duties must be performed with
humility. Self denial is the chief gospel lesson, and
is to run through the veins of every service. There-
fore God speaks of giving a heart of flesh, in gospel
times, " I will take the stony heart out of their flesh,
and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in
my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them."

OF REGENERATION.

49

Ezek. xi. 19. Gospel duties require a pliableness and
tenderness of heart. Adam's overvaluing himself, and
swelling with designs of being like God, brought an
incapacity upon himself of serving his Creator. And
man ever since is too aspiring, and has too good an
opinion of himself, to perform duties in an evangelical
strain, with that contrition in himself, which the
gospel requires. Our swelling and admiring thoughts
of our own natural righteousness, hinder Christ from
saving us, and ourselves from serving him. There
must be an humble, and melting, and selfdenying
frame. The angels are said to cover their faces be-
fore God, as having nothing to glory in of their own.
And the chief design of the Gospel, is to beat down
all glorying in ourselves, " that no flesh should glory
in his presence ; let him that glorieth, glory in the
Lord." 1 Cor. i. 29, 31. And indeed it humbles us no
more, than what, upon due consideration, will appear
very necessary. Nature then must be changed, be-
fore pride be rooted out ; old things must pass
away, that God may be all in all in the creature. We
cannot without a new nature, make a true estimate
of ourselves, and lie as vile and base in the presence
of God. A stone, with all the hammering cannot be
made soft. Beat it into several pieces ; you may
sever the continuity of its parts, but not master its
hardness ; every piece of it will retain the hardness
nature must be changed, before it be fit for those
of its nature. So it is with a heart of stone: the
services which require melting, humble and admiring
frames. There is a necessity of a residing grace, like
fire, to keep the soul in a melting temper.

Without a new nature, we cannot perform gospel
services constantly, because of our natural levity.
Where the nature is flesh, the heart minds the things
of the flesh. The mind thus habituated, will not be
long employed about the things of the Spirit. There
is a natural levity in man's nature. Do not many
seem to begin in the Spirit, and end in the flesh? seem

5

50 THE NECESSITY

to arise to heaven, and quickly fall down to earth f
Do not our very promises vanish with the next wind
of temptation ; and like sparks, expire as soon as they
be born, unless grace be in the heart to keep them
ahve? The Israelites are accused of not having a
heart steadfast with God. " Their heart was not right
with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant."
Psa. Ixxviii. 37. Are our natures better than theirs?
Do we not all lie under the same charge ; so uncer-
tain naturally, about divine things, as if there were
nothing but wind in our computation 1 Nothing can
be kept up in motion against its nature, but by force.
A top hath no inward principle of motion, but is
moved by some outward force: when that is removed,
the motion languisheth. Any motion that depends
only upon outward wires, expires upon the breaking
of them. When external motives, which spurred men
on to this or that service, cease, the service dies of
course, because the spring of the motion fails. If fear
Df hell, terrors of death, some pressing calamity, be the
spring of any duty ; when these are removed, there
jvill be no more regard to the duty they engendered.
But what is natural, is constant, because the spring
ilways remains. Interest changeth, conscience is
various ; and therefore the operations arising from
thence, will partake of the uncertainty of them. Stony
ground may bring forth blades ; but for want of root
they will quickly wither. A man may mount high
in religion, by the mixture of some religious passion,
as meteors in the air, which by reason of the gross and
earthy parts in them, will not continue in their station.
There is no being without, stable, but God, and no
principle stable within, but grace. "It is a good thing
that the heart be established with grace." Heb. xiii. U.
Whatsoever service is undertaken upon changeable
motives,. is as changeable as the bottom upon which
it stands. If credit, slavish fear of God, worldly in-
terest, inspire us with some seemingly holy resolu-
tions, they will all fly away upon the first removal

OF REGENERATION. 61

of those props. There is therefore a necessity of a
change of nature and disposition. Where tliere is no
approbation of things that are excellent, there can be
no constant operation about them. All action about
an object, continues according to the affection to it,
and delight in it. We shall then be filled with the
fruits of righteousness, to the glory of God, when we
have a sincere approbation of the excellency of them;
first, "approve things that are excellent;" and then
follows, *' without offence, till the day of Christ."
Phil. i. 10, 11. A stately profession can no more
hold out against the floods of temptation, than a beau-
tiful building can stand against the winds without a
good foundation under ground. It is the Spirit of the
Lord within, as well as without, can alone maintain the
standard against temptation.

Well then, upon the whole, there is a necessity of
regeneration, for the performance of gospel duties.
We cannot else perform them spiritually; because we
are flesh ; nor vitally, because we are dead ; nor gra-
ciously, because we are corrupt ; nor voluntarily, be-
cause we are at enmity ; nor delightfully, because we
are alienated ; nor sincerely, because we are falsity;
nor humbly, because of our stoutness ; nor constantly,
because of our levity : our natures must be changed
in all these respects, before we can be fit for any
gospel service.

CHAPTER III.

Regeneration necessary to friendship and union with God —
Necessary to Justification — To Adoption —To acceptaole
services —To communion with God— To the communication
of divine blessings to the soul.

Regeneration is necessary for the enjoyment of gospel
privileges. We are not fit for God's delight, without
it. That person who hath his love, must have his
image. If ever God could love an old nature, which

52

THE NECESSITY

he once hated, and delight in that which he once
loathed, he must divest himself of his immutability.
He never hated the person of any of his creatures, but
for unrighteousness. And upon the removal of this
cloud of separation betvs^een him and them, the beams
of his love break out in their former vigour. God's
love is not straitened, nor his kindness exhausted, no
more than his hand is shortened, or his ear grown
heavy, that he cannot hear? " But your iniquities have
separated between you, and your God : and your sins
have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."
Isa. lix. 1, 2.

What made the first separation? Was it not sin?
God told Adam before, what the issue would be, upon
his eating the forbidden fruit, " in the day that thou
eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." Gen. ii. 17. It
is not a temporal death alone that is meant ; for he
would then have died that day wherein he fell ; the
word surely importing as much. And the punish-
ment of a temporal death was pronounced afterwards,
" Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
Gen. iii. 17. Thou shalt surely die; thy integrity and
righteousness will expire that very moment, and thou
shalt die in my just displeasure. It is a spiritual
death that is most properly meant. The punishment
of sin, is death. The chief part of this death is an
alienation from the life of God : that is not to have
God and the righteousness of God's image, living in
him ; but to be impure, corrupt, a hater of God, and
servant of sin. Now from this punishment no man
can be freed, but by regeneration ; the proper efi'ect
whereof, is to love God, to know his name, to partake
of his holiness, to imitate his virtues. Man forfeited
all God's favour upon his fall, and can challenge
nothing of it.

What then can restore man to God's favour? Can
that which first deprived us of it? The cause of our
destruction can never be the means of our restoration.
Did the loss of Adam's, integrity, make him unfit for

OF REGENERATION.

paradise, the garden of God, whence he was expelled,
as a token of God's displeasure 1 And can the con-
tinuance* of that loss, be a means to regain that love
which banished us ? It was a spiritual death. And
is the carcass of a soul fit for God's complacency 1
There must be not only a satisfaction to his justice
for the re-instating man into his favour : but a restor-
ing of his image, by the Holy Ghost. It is as impos-
sible the soul can be beautiful without life, and with-
out holiness, as for a body to be beautiful without a
good colour, and proportion of parts. Take away
this, beauty must cease, and deformity succeed in the
place. It is impossible therefore, that where sin re-
mains in its full vigour, where there is nothing of an
original integrity residing, but that the soul must be
monstrous, vile, and deformed in the eyes of God.
To make it therefore a fit object for God's favour, it
is necessary to be beautified with a holy nature, and
adorned with its due proportions and vigour. The
righteousness of Israel must go forth as brightness ;
he must be called by a new name ; that is a new na-
ture : for what is a name without a nature ? And
then it should be Hephzibahy the Lord delights in
thee. " The righteousness thereof shall go forth as
brightness, and the glory thereof as a lamp that
burneth." Isa. Ixii. 1, 2, 3, 4. Righteousness is the
glory of a soul, as well as of a church. " Gentiles
shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory.
Thou shalt be called by a new name;" a new nature
wrought by the word of God ; ** which the mouth of
the Lord shall name." Then she should be in favour
with God; "a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of her God." Right-
eousness is the glory of a soul, and God's delight and
complacency is the consequent of a righteous nature.
The elect themselves have no interest in God's
favour of delight without it. This follows upon the
former. God cannot love the very best of mankind,
his own choice, with a love of complacency, without

5*

54 THE NECESSITY

regeneration, without a righteous nature. There is
a favour of intention and purpose before it : there is
also an executive love in the very infusing the habits
of grace, which is a supernatural favour, because
there is both a purpose, and then an actual conferring
a supernatural good. God is free, and may give his
gifts how, and to whom he pleases. But an elect
person, whilst he continues in a state of nature, is not
simply beloved, though there be a purpose of love ;
because there is no gracious quality in him, which is
the object of God's special favour. It is regenera-
tion only which is the object of God's delight in us.

Hence will follow, that no privileges under heaven,
without it, can bring us into God's favour. No, not
if any man were related to Christ, according to the
flesh. The apostle Paul would not think the better
of himself for a fleshly relation to Christ, for being
of the same country, descended of the Jewish nation.
" Though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet
henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." 2 Cor.
V. 16. Though it be an honour to be of the same
descent with Christ, according to the flesh; to be
of the same nation and country; yet this doth not
make a man any more beloved of God. Nothing
avails in Christ but a new creature. And our Saviour
himself pronounceth it so. It was the highest privi-
lege to be the mother of our Saviour, according to the
flesh: yet this had been nothing, without her being
born again of the Spirit ; " Who is my mother, and
who are my brethren 1 Behold my mother and my
brethren," pointing to his disciples; "my mother and
my brethren are these which hear the word of God,
and do it." Luke viii. 21. Those that hear the word,
that have the gracious effect of the word wrought in
them by the Spirit, are equal to my mother and my
brethren, and superior to any of my fleshly relations,
if they be without it. There is a necessity of regene-
ration upon this account.

OF REGENERATION. 65

As there is no favonr, so there is no union with
God and Christ without it. Man hath some kind of
natural union with all things in the world ; he hath
being with all creatures, rational faculties with angels,
sense with animals, vegetation with plants. He wants
only that with God, which would beautify all the
rest. And this can only be by partaking of the image
of God's holiness by a new birth. There must be a
capability for this union on man's part. A superior
and inferior nature maybe united together: but never
contrary natures. There must be some proportion
between the subjects to be united, which proportion
consists in a commensuration of one thing to another.
What proportion is there between God and our souls'?
There can be none without a supernatural grace, in-
fusing a pure nature. As we come out of the quarry
of nature, rough and unpolished, we are not fit to be
cemented with the corner-stone in the heavenly build-
ing ; we must be first smoothed and altered by grace.

How can things be united to one another, which
are already united to their contraries ? Separation
from one body must make way for union to another.
Naturally we are united to the devil, as the head of
the wicked world. We are by nature his members.
Our understandings and wills were united with his
in Adam, when Adam gave up his understanding
and will to him : and ever since he works in the
children of disobedience ; working, and working in,
as a united nature to him, and principle in him. It
is necessary this union should be broken, before we
can partake of the influence of another head. The
diabolical nature and principle therefore, which we
have got by sin, must be removed, and another nature,
which is divine, must be restored before we can be
united to Christ, and enjoy the benefits of union with
him.

How can things of a contrary nature be united to-
gether? Can fire and water be united, a good angel
and an impure devil 1 Can heaven and hell ever

56 THE NECESSITY

become friendly and compose one body? We are
united to the first Adam by a likeness of nature : how
can we be united to the second without a likeness to
him from a new principle ? We are united to the
first by a living soul ; we must be united to the other
by a quickening Spirit. We have nothing to do with
the heavenly Adam, without bearing, an heavenly
image. We are earthly as in the first Adam; we must
be heavenly to be in the second, because his nature
is so. If we are his members, we must have the
same nature, which was communicated to him by the
Spirit of God, which is holiness. This nature must
flow from the same principle ; otherwise it is not the
same nature. An old nature cannot be joined to a
new Adam : there must be one spirit in both; "He
that is joined to the Lord is one spirit." 1 Cor. vi.
17. And if it were an union barely of aflfections, as
some would only make it, it is not conceivable how
it can be without a change of disposition. But since
it is a union by indwelling of the same Spirit in both,
it is less intelligible how it can be without an assimi-
lation of our nature to the nature of Christ. " If any
man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."
Rom. viii. 9. It can never be supposed the Spirit
should unite a pure head and impure members. Such
a union would make our blessed Saviour like Nebu-
chadnezzar's image ; an head of gold, arms of silver,
and feet of clay. Shall we loathe to have impure
things about us ? and will the holy Jesus endure a
loathsome, putrefying soul to be joined to him ?

How can any thing be vitally united to another
without life ? It is a vital union, by virtue of which
believers are called Christ. " As all the members of
that one body, being many, are one body, so also is
Christ," 1 Cor. xi. 12; and is compared to the union
of the members of a natural body, Rom. xii. 4, 5.
Members have not only life in their head, but in
themselves, because the soul, which is the life of the
body, is not only in the head, but in all the parts of

OF REGENERATION.

57

the body, and exerciseth in every part its vital opera-
tions. Tlie Spirit, therefore, which is the bond of
this union, communicates hfe to every member where-
in he resides, as well as in the head. What man
would endure a dead body to be joined to him, though
it were the carcass of one he ever so dearly loved 1
If a man were united to Christ, without regeneration,
Christ's body would be partly alive, partly dead, if
any one member of it had not a spiritual life. A dead
body' and a living head; a member of Christ, with a
nature contrary to him, is an inconceivable paradox.
Did God ever design such a monstrous union for his
Son 1 Hence results

The necessity of regeneration ; for without it there
can be no union with Christ.

There can be no justification without it. We are
not justified by an inherent righteousness ; yet we
are not justified without it; we cannot be justified
by it, because it is not commensurate to the law, by
reason of its imperfection : we cannot be justified
without it, for it is not congruous to the wisdom and
holiness of God, to count a person righteous who
hath nothing of righteousness in him, and whose
nature is as corrupt as the worst of men. With what
respect to God's honour can it be expected that God
should pardon that man's sins whose will is not
changed, who still hath the same habit in his will to
commit sin, though he doth not at present exercise it?
It is very congruous in a moral way that the person
offending should retract his sin, and return to his
former aflection. There is a distinction between
justification and regeneration, though they are never
asunder. Justification is relative; regeneration inter-
nally real. Union with Christ is the ground of both ;
Christ is the meritorious cause of both. The Father
pronounceth the one; the Spirit works the other : it is
the Father's sentence, and the Spirit's work. The
relative and the real change are both at the same
time, " But ye are sanctified ; but ye are justified,'*

58 THE NECESSITY

1 Cor. vi. 7: both go together. We are not justified
before faith, because we are justified by it. Rom. v. 1.
And faith is the vital principle whereby we live.
*' The life which I now live, I live by the faith of the
Son of God." Gal. ii. 20. It is the root-grace, and
contains the seeds of all other graces in it : it is
habitually and seminally all other graces. So that,
unless we be new born, no justification can be ex-
pected ; no justification can be evidenced. God never
pardons sin, but he subdues iniquity. "Who is a God
like unto thee, that pardons iniquity ? He will subdue
our iniquities." Mich. vii. 18, 19. The conquest can-
not be made, while the nature, the root of the rebel-
lion remains. When he turns his compassion to us,
he will turn away our hearts from iniquity. If a man
were justified before he were regenerate, then he were
righteous before he was alive: being in Christ, as free
from condemnation, is always attended with a walking
after the Spirit ; and walking is not before living.
Pardon would be unprofitable, unless he that were
pardoned were made righteous inherently here, and
had a right to, and hope of, a perfect righteousness
hereafter. If righteousness were not imparted in this
manner, it would be an argument a man were still under
the law; which saith, "He that doeth them shall live
in them ;" which is impossible in a man that hath once
sinned, though his sins are remitted. But it is clear
that righteousness is imparted, since there is no man
in the world, whose sins are pardoned, but finds some
principle in him, whereby he is enabled to contest
with sin more than he was before. Therefore do
not deceive yourselves ; there is no pardon without
a righteous nature, though pardon be not given
for it.

There is no adoption without regeneration. We
can no more be God's sons, without spiritual regene-
ration, than we can be the sons and daughters of men
without natural generation. Adoption is not a mere
relation, without an inward form. The privilege and

OF REGENERATION.

59

the image of the sons of God both go together. A
state of adoption is never without a separation from
defilement, " Come ye out from among them, be ye
separate, and I will be a father unto you, and ye
shall be n^v sons and daughters." 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18.
The new name in adoption is never given, till the
new creature be framed. "As many as are led by
the Spirit, they are the sons of God." Rom. viii. 14;
that is the signal mark, that they are led by the Spirit,
therefore first enlivened by the Spirit. A child-like
relation is never without a child-like nature. The
same method God observes in declaring the members
his sons, as he did in declaring the head his Son, which
was " according to the Spirit of holiness, by the
resurrection from the dead." So he declares be-
lievers to be his sons, by giving them a spirit of holi-
ness, and by a resurrection from sin, and spiritual
death. The devils may as well be adopted sons of
God, as we, without a change of nature. To be the
sons of the living God, was the great promise of the
gospel prophesied of, *' Ye are the sons of the living
God." Hos. i. 10. How will it suit, a living God,
and a dead son ? God is not the God of the dead, but
of the living. Our Saviour's argument for the im-
mortality of the soul will evidence not only a resur-
rection, but a necessity of a spiritual life. What
advantage is there in being the sons of a living God,
if we had no more life in us, than his greatest ene-
mies'? Regeneration, as a spiritual act, gives us a
likeness to God in our nature : adoption, as a legal
act, gives us a right to an inheritance ; both the great
ends of the gospel, accompanying one another. No
sonship without a new nature.

There is no acceptance of our services without it.
We are not fit to perform any duty without it ; and
God will never accept any duty from us without it.
In the first of Ephesians, election and regeneration
are expressed by being holy; adoption and accept-
ance are linked together, " He hath chosen us that we

60 THE NECESSITY

should be holy, and without blame before him in love
having predestinated us to the adoption of children :
after follows " grace, wherein he hath made us ac-
cepted in the beloved." Ver. 4, 5, 6. Our acceptance
is only upon the account of Christ ; but the accepta-
bility is upon the account of grace. Faith makes our
persons and our duties acceptable ; and Christ makes
them both accepted. Acceptability ariseth from grace,
as damnation ariseth from sin. God damns none, un-
less they be damnable : neither doth God accept any
in Christ unless they be acceptable. The papists,
that plead for merit, acknowledge nothing of it before
grace, but after grace, because then the services have
a greater proportion to God, from the dignity of the
person, they being acts of God's children, and wrought
by his Spirit. God can love nothing but himself, and
what he finds of himself in the creature. All services,
without something of God's image and Spirit in them,
are nothing. As the product of a million of ciphers,
though you still add to them, signifies nothing ; but
add one figure, a unit, the Spirit, grace, it will make
the product to be many millions of high account with
God. All the signification depends upon the figure,
which if absent, the rest would be nothing. All
moral perfections, without a new nature, are but
ciphers in God's account, " Without faith it is impos-
sible to please God." Heb. xi. 6. Grace is only a
good work, " He which hath begun a good work in
you, will perform it till the day of Christ." Phil. i. 6;
intimating, that their morality, and their natural
wisdom, before their regeneration, were not good
works in the sight of God. They were good in their
kind ; as a crab, may be said to be a good crab, but
not a good pippin. It is not good, unless it be fruit
brought forth in Christ : neither is it ordained as good
to the day of Christ, to appear glorious at the time
of his triumph. God looks into our services, whether
the Spirit frames them, and Christ presents them : all
that we do, must go through their hands, before they

OP REGENERATION.

61

can reach God's heart. Acceptance can never be
without a renewed nature. The services of the flesh
cannot please God, " They that are in the flesh cannot
please God," Rom. viii. 8. Their persons cannot,
therefore their actions cannot, because they are the
products of a nature at variance with him ; a nature
that is not, nor cannot be subject to his law. So that
God must be displeased with his own spiritual law;
yea, with his own holy nature, and change his judg-
ment, and change his nature, before he can be pleased
with fleshly services ; for at the best, they are but empty
appearances. The image of the devil, can never be
grateful to God. Services flowing from nature, may
seem in the outward form of them, to be as acceptable
as the duties of a good man : but considering what a
sink of impurity the heart is, from whence they pro-
ceed, they cannot be so. Good water is sweetest,
and bad water most corrupt nearest the spring or
fountain : although the streams may lose some of their
corruption in their passage. A gracious man's duties
are most pleasant to God, nearest the heart ; a natural
man's services are most distasteful, nearest the spring.
When the heart is a good treasure, what comes from
it, is regarded as a rich gift, because it comes from a
valuable treasure. Hence it is, that a less work,
coming from a pure and holy principle in a renewed
man, is more acceptable to God, than a greater work,
in respect of the external glorification of him in the
good of mankind, coming from an impure principle in
a natural man. As a cup of cold water given to a
disciple, is more valuable than the gift of a prince,
from another principle. In the one, God sees a con-
formity of affection with his holiness : in the other,
only a conformity with his providence. One intends
God's glory, and the other only acts it, proposing some
other end to himself. And we are accustomed to
value gifts, rather by the affection of the friend, than
the quantity of the gift. Well then, consider it : with-
out a new nature, all our services, though thev should

e

62

THE NECESSITY

amount to many millions in number, have no intrinsic
value in them with God. For where the nature is
displeasing, the actions flowing from that nature, can
never please him. He that turns away his ear from
hearing the law; that is, from a spiritual obedience to
the law, even his prayer is an abomination. It is
formed by a polluted soul.

There is no communion with God, without a re-
newed soul. God is incapable on his part, with the
honour of his law and holiness, to have communion
with such a creature. Man is incapable on his part,
because of the aversion rooted in his nature. What
way can there be to bring God and man together,
without this change of nature 1 What communion
can there be between a living God, and a dead heart I
God loathes sin, man loves it; God loves holiness, man
loathes it. How can these contrary affections meet
together in an amicable friendship 1 What communion
with so much disagreement in affections? In all
friendship there must be similitude of disposition.
Justification cannot bring us into communion with
God, without regeneration. It may free us from
punishment, discharge our sins; but not prepare us
for a converse wherein our chief happiness lies.
There must be some agreement, before there can be
a communion. Beasts and men agree not in a life of
reason; and therefore cannot converse together. God
and man agree not in a life of holiness; and therefore
can have no communion together. We are by sin,
alienated from the life of God ; and therefore from his
fellowship. We must have his life restored to us,
before we can be restored to communion with him.

God can have no pleasure in such communion.
God took a delight in the creation, and rejoiced in his
work. Sin despoiled God of his rest. It can give
God no content, no satisfaction ; for to be in the flesh,
is to be in that nature which was derived from Adam;
which brought the displeasure of God upon all man-
kind. Regeneration by the Spirit, restores the crea-

OF REGENERATION.

ture to such a state, wherein God may take pleasure
in him ; and strips him by degrees of that sin which
spoiled his delight in the work of his hands ; as it
grows, communion is enlarged. God made man at
first after his own image, that he might have com-
munion with him. Since the loss of that, what fit-
ness can there be for communion, till the restoration
of that which God thought fit for his delight 1 Sup-
pose that some one work of a natural man, may be
good and pleasing to God, it will not argue a com-
munion of God with the person : he may be pleased
with the work, but not with the man ; for all the
goodness he hath, being in the act, and the act being
transient, when that is past, his goodness is as the
morning dew, vanished. He cannot be the object of
God's delight, because he hath no habitual goodness
in him. Now God being infinitely holy, can have
no communion with that which he abominates : and
he cannot have a fixed, and a delightful communion
with that which he cannot confide in. It must be,
therefore, such a nature as is produced, and preserved
by his own Spirit. If the heavens are not clean in
his sight, we must have a nature purer and cleaner
than the heavens, before God can delightfuil}/ behold
us, and pleasingly converse with us.

As God can have no pleasure in such communion,
so man is contrary to it. Man, as he is by corrup-
tion, is at variance with God, and cannot but be at
variance with him. An uncircumcised heart will not
love God ; or, at least, will not pay him such a propor-
tion of love, and love of such a quality, as is due to
him. For if the end of the circumcision of the heart,
be to love the Lord with all our hearts, "And the
Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, to love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart," Deut. xxx. 6 ; then,
it will necessarily infer, that he whose heart is not
circumcised, doth not love God with all his heart.
Holiness and iniquity are so contrary, that no agree-
ment can be made between them. God must deny

64 THE NECESSITY

his nature before he can deny his hatred of sin ; and
man must be stripped of his nature, before he can
leave his affection to sin. It is equally impossible for
wickedness to love holiness, and for purity to love
pollution : there can be no fellowship with God, whilst
we walk in darkness, and he is light.

Nay, man naturally resists all means of communion
with God. It is the Spirit only which is the bond of
union, and consequently the cause of communion: the
Spirit can alone bring God and us together. Walking
in the Spirit hinders us from fulfilling the lusts of the
flesh, which makes us incapable of communion. " Walk
in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the
flesh." Gal. v. 16. But every man by nature, as well
as the Jews, "resists the Holy Ghost." Acts vii. 61.
And while this resistance of the great medium of it
remains, this communion can never be : this resistance,
therefore, must be removed, and there must be a
divine stamp and impression upon our very nature to
make it pliable. You see more and more the neces-
sity of regeneration.

As there is no communion with God without it,
so no communications of Christ to our souls can be
relished and improved without it. All the communi-
cations of Christ relish of that fulness of grace which
was in his person ; and, therefore, cannot be relished
by any principle but that of the same nature. When-
ever Jesus Christ comes to bless us with the great
blessings of his purchase, he *' turns away our hearts
<rom iniquity." Acts iii. 20.

OF REGENERATION.

CHAPTER IV.

The connection of Regeneration with a state of glory — It forms
a fitness and aptitude for it — Prepares for the duties of heaven,
such as attendance on God, holy contemplation, love and
praise — Prepares also for the rewards of heaven, such as perfect
likeness to Christ, and fruition of God— Inferences from the
discussion.

As regeneration is necessary to a gospel state, so it is
to a state of glory. It seems to be typified by the
strength and freshness of the Israelites when they
entered into Canaan. Not a decrepid and infirm per-
son set foot in the promised land: none of those that
came out of Egypt, with an Egyptian nature, and
desires for the garHc and onions thereof, with a suf-
fering their old bondage, but dropped their carcasses
in the wilderness, only the two spies, who had encour-
aged them against the seeming difficulties. None that
retain only the old man, born in the house of bondage,
but only a new regenerate creature, shall enter into
the heavenly Canaan. Heaven is the inheritance of
the sanctified, not of the unholy. " That they may
receive an inheritance among them which are sancti-
fied through faith that is in me." Acts xxvi. 18.

Regeneration is necessary in a way of aptitude and
fitness for this state. A fitness in both subjects is
necessary to the enjoyment of one another. Since,
therefore, our happiness consists in an eternal fruition
of God; and that, naturally, we are a mass of corrup-
tion ; there must be such a change as to make an
agreement with that God, whom to enjoy is our hap-
piness. For all aptitude is a certain connection of the
two terms, whereby they may touch and receive each
other. We cannot enjoy God in his ordinances with-
out an holy nature, much less in heaven. As we are
under the condemnation of the law, by reason of our

6*

66 THE NECESSITY

guilt, SO we are under an unfitness for heaven, by rea-
son of our impurity. We have a rennote natural
capacity for it, as we are creatures endued with
rational faculties. But we have a nnoral unfitness,
while we want a divine impression to make us suitable
to it. Justification and adoption give us a right to
the inheritance ; but regeneration gives us a " meet-
ness to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in
light." We are not meet for it while we are unholy
and while we are darkness, because it is an inherit-
ance of saints, and an inheritance in light. As the
body cannot be made glorious without a resurrection
from a natural death, so neither can the soul, which
is immortal, be made glorious without resurrection
from a spiritual death. Our corruptible bodies can-
not possess an incorruptible kingdom, unless made
like to the glorious body of Christ ; much less our
souls, which are the chief subjects of communion with
him in heaven. A depraved soul is as much unfit for
a purified heaven as a corruptible body is for an in-
corruptible glory. Our Saviour ascended not into
heaven to take possession of his glory, till after his
resurrection from death ; neither can we enter into
heaven till a resurrection from sin. As Jesus Christ
became like unto us, that he might be a merciful and
faithful high priest for us; "it behoved him to be
made like unto his brethren," Heb. ii. 17; so it be-
hoves us to be made like unto him, that we may be
fit offerings in the hand of our high priest, to present
to God, for him to take pleasure in. The father of
the prodigal forgave him at the first meeting after his
return : but before he admitted him into the pleasure
of his house, he took away his garments, and put
other robes upon him. God is said, therefore, to work
us to this thing, that we may be fit to be clothed upon
with our heavenly house. If God be happy in his
nature, man cannot be happy in a nature contrary to
him. For we can never expect to enjoy a felicity in
such a nature, which if God himself had, he could

OF REGENERATION. 67

never be happy in himself. It is holiness in God
which fits him to fill heaven and earth with the beams
of his glory: and it is an holy nature in us which
makes us fit to receive him. As without holiness God
could not be glorious in himself, " Holy, holy, holy is
the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory,"
Isa. vi. 3 ; so, without holiness in our natures, we
could not be glorious with God. We are no more fit
for heaven in a state of nature, than a vile particle of
earth is fit to become a star. In heaven there are
duties to be done, and privileges to be enjoyed. The
work cannot be done, the reward cannot be received,
without a new nature. The glorifying God and en-
joying him, is the glory of heaven. How can we do
the one, or receive the other, without the change of
our affections? Can God have a voluntary glory
from his enemy ? Or can his enemy delight in the
enjoyment of him.

Regeneration and the new nature are necessary to
the duty of heaven. Eternity cannot free us from
duty. Some duties are essential to the relation of a
creature: some result only from this or that state of
the creature. The alteration in the state changeth
the duty proper to that state : but no place, no state,
can exempt a creatuie from those duties which are
essential to him as a creature. It is impossible to
conceive any relation, without some new debt, or
service. From every change in relations in the world,
there doth arise some new duty, which was not in-
cumbent upon a man before. The relation which a
regenerate man hath to God here, is the same which
it is in heaven : but it is manifest there in a higher
degree, and a choicer fruition. Thence therefore will
arise, though not any new duty that we can conceive;
yet fresher obligations to those services which are
proper for that place. Without a change of nature,
it is not possible for any man, were he admitted
thither, to perform the duties of heaven. Holy work
is troublesome to a natural man here ; and the more

68 THE NECESSITY

heavenly it is in itself, the more disgustful to corrupt
nature. What was in a little measure holy, was a
drudgery upon earth : and what was in a greater
measure holy, cannot be a satisfaction in heaven to
an old frame. There are some natural motives to
some duties here ; and our indigency takes part with
them, as in that of prayer : but those of a more ele-
vated strain, as love, and praise, and admiration of
God, our natures are more averse to. What duty
can be performed without a will 1 It is concluded by
most, that the happiness of heaven consists as much,
if not more, in the frame of the will, than in that of
the understanding. If the will be not new framed,
what capacity is there to perform the service requi-
site to that happy state ? We must first be made just
here, before we can be made perfect above, " Spirits
of just men made perfect." Heb. xii. 23. Just by
an imputed righteousness, holy by an inherent right-
eousness, before they were transplanted to a state of
perfection. Without a perfect frame, none can per-
form the choice duties of heaven: and without right-
eousness here, we cannot be made perfect there.

But what are the duties of heaven, that cannot be
performed without a new nature ? I answer, attend-
ance on God ; some kind of service which we cannot
understand, in this state here below. The angels
stand before God, and wait his commands ; there is
a pleasure of God which they do, " Ye ministers of
his that do his pleasure." Psa. ciii. 21. There is a
will of God done in heaven, as well as upon earth :
there are acts of adoration performed by them. They
cover their faces: they are commanded to worship
the Lord Christ. Their holiness fits them for their
attendance ; therefore called the holy angels. It is
against the nature of devils to perform such acts as
those, which the holiness of angels fits them for.
Glorified souls shall be as the angels of God in heaven,
*' But are as the angels of God in heaven." Matt. xxii.
30. Equal to angels in their state, as they are angels

OF REGENERATION. 69

in heaven: equal to angels in their work, as they are
angels of God, attending on God, and ministering unto
him ; though what that ministry shall be, is not easily
known in the extent of it. Is it usual in this world,
to take up a mean person, and bring him to an imme-
diate attendance on a prince, without due preparation?
God selects some out for an immediate attendance on
him in heaven ; but he sends his Spirit to be their
tutor, to breed them up, and grace their deformed
souls with beautiful features, that they may be meet
to stand before him. When God calls any to do him
service in a particular station in the world, he gives
them another heart; so he did to Saul for the kingdom.
Is there not much more necessity of it for an imme-
diate service of God in heaven 1 A malefactor, by
pardon, is in a capacity to come into the presence of
a prince, and serve him at his table : but he is not in
a fitness, till his noisome garments, be taken off. Can
one that is neither pardoned nor purified ; one with
the guilt of rebellion upon him, and a nature of re-
bellion in him, be fit to stand before God 1

Again, contemplation of God is a work in heaven.
There shall be a perfect knowledge, therefore a de-
lightful contemplation. The angels behold his face,
and that always. The saints shall see him as he is.
It is not a stupid sight, but a gazing upon the face of
this sun, with a refined and ravishing delight. For
this work, there must be,

A change of judgment. The eye must be restored.
It is as possible for a blind eye to behold the sun, or
a weak eye to stare in the face of it, as for a blind
understanding to behold God. For it is not a being
in the place of heaven, but having a faculty disposed,
which elevates us to the knowledge of him. Things
that are corporeal, cannot know things that are spiri-
tual. We cannot in this sensitive body, view the face
of an angel, and understand his nature ; much less
with a body of total death, see the face of God, which
is above all created beings, more than any spiritual

70 THE NECESSITY

creature is above sense. In heav^en the saints shall
know him, as they are known of him, perfectly, as far
as the capacity of a creature may extend. Has God
any scales upon his eyes ? Does he not know per-
fectly what he knows ? So shall the glorified saints.
But if a natural man were admitted into heaven, what
prospects could he have with a blind understanding ?
As men under the gospel administrations, cannot see
the kingdom of God, even in the midst of it, without
a new birth ; so neither could they see the kingdom of
God in the midst of heaven itself, without a new
frame ; if not see it, much less enjoy it.

For the contemplation of God in heaven, there must
be a change of will. Men like not to retain God in
their knowledge, when he is represented to them in
the dark, yet pleasant glass of nature, Rom. i. 28. The
apostle there speaks it of the heathen, and the wisest
of them, their philosophers, who though pleased with
the contemplation of nature, yet were not pleased with
the contemplation of God in nature : much less will
they like him, when he discovers himself clothed with
the light of holiness as a garmnent. That vicious eye,
which is too weak to behold, with any delight, the
image of the sun in a glass, or a pail of water, will be
much too weak, to gaze upon it in its brightness in
the firmament. If there be no delight to know God
here, what pleasure, what fitness can there be in the
same frame, to contemplate him above ? Let me ask
you ; have you any pleasure in the study of God 1
What is the reason then, that in your retirements,
when you have nothing to do, your thoughts are no
more upon him? What is the reason, that if any
motion doth oflfer to advise you to fix your thoughts
upon him, you so soon shift it ofl^, as a troublesome
companion, and some slight jolly thought is admitted
with gladness into those embraces which the other
courted ? Can such a temper be fit for heaven, where
nothing but thoughts of God run through the veins of
glorified souls ? If the discovery of God's glory in

OF REGENERATION. 71

the gospel, is accounted no better than folly by natural
men; and' therefore not received; the manifestation of
it above, would meet with no better valuation of
it, unless the temper both of judgment and will
were changed : they are spiritually to be discerned
here, and no less spiritually to be discerned above.
The weak and waterish eye must be cured by some
powerful medicine, before it can stare upon the light
of the sun, or delight itself in its glory.

Love is another duty in Heaven. Love is a grace
that shoots the gulf with us, and attends us not only
to the suburbs, but into the very heart of heaven,
when other graces conduct us only to the gates, and
then take their leave of us, as having no business there.
" Charity never faileth." And, indeed, it is so essen-
tially our duty in every place, that it is concluded, that
God cannot free us from the obligation of it, whilst
we remain his creatures; because God, being infinitely
good, and, therefore, infinitely amiable, and infinitely
gracious to them, it would seem unrighteous and in-
consistent with supreme goodness, to forbid the crea-
ture an affection to that which is infinitely excellent,
and a gratitude to his benefactor, which can be paid
only in love. Now, though we are bound to love God
in the highest degree, yet every new mercy adds a
fresh obligation to return our afl^ection to him. So
when we shall have the clearest beams of God's love,
darting upon us from heaven, we shall also have
higher obligations to love him, both for his excellency,
which shall be more visible; and his love, which shall
be more sensible. Now, can the heart of a natural
man cling about God? Can it forget its father's
house, and be wholly taken up with the Creator's ex-
cellency i Can he that loved pleasure more than God
in the world, love God more than pleasures in heaven,
without an alteration of his soul? No: the heart must
be first circumcised by God, before we can love God
with all our heart. If we will not be subject to the
law of God here, how can we be subject to the love

72 THE NECESSITY

of God, which is the law of heaven ? How can we
cleave to God without love, or relish him without de-
light ? No nnan in a natural state, could stay in
heaven, because he doth not love the person, whose
presence alone makes it heaven. How can there be
a conformity to God in affection, without a conformity
to his holiness ? A choiceness of love, with a per-
verseness of will ; a supremacy of delight, without
rectitude of heart; a love of God, without a loathing
of sin; a fervency of love, with a violence of lust: all
these are contradictions. He that hath a hatred of
God, cannot perform the main duty of heaven ; and,
therefore, what should he do there ]

Again : praise is a service in heaven. If a pure
angel be not sufficient for so elevated a duty, how
unfit then is a drowsy soul! What is the angel's
note, "holy, holy, holy Lord God," can never be a
natural man's: for how can he possibly praise that
which he hates? What is the note of glorified saints?
It is " alleluiah, salvation, and glory, and honour,
and power, unto the Lord our God ;" Rev. xix. 1 ;
and again they said, " alleluiah, for the Lord God
Omnipotent reigneth," ver. 6. Nothing but alleluiah
four times, ver. 1, 3,4,6. How can that heart frame
an alleluiah, that is filled with jealousies of him?
How can he exalt the honour of God, who was
always pleased with the violations of it ? How can
he rejoice at the Lord's reigning, that would not
have one lust subdued by his power? How can a
natural man, as natural, ever be wound up to a
height, fit for such strains, since " out of the abund-
ance of the heart, the mouth speaks ?" The tongue
can never be framed to praise, while the heart is
evil. Our blessed Saviour must be glorified in us,
before he can be glorified by us. If a man in a mere
natural state, be unfit for this heavenly work, how
unfit are then their tongues to sound his praise, which
are always filled with reproaches of God ? And how
can their ears endure to hear it from others which

OF REGENERATION. 73

were never offended with the blasphemies of him ?
They could never rejoice in this heavenly concert,
were they admitted. Nay, their enmity to the work
would not permit their stay. The smoke of pure in-
cense, is fitter, rather to drive a swine out of the room,
than to invite his continuance.

As the new birth is necessary, to the duty, so to
the reward of heaven. As the reward is exceedingly
glorious the preparation thereto, must be exceedingly
gracious. The rewards of heaven are something in-
corporated with us, inlaid in the very frame of our
souls, and cannot be conceived enjoyable, without a
change in the nature of the subject. Man was first
formed, before he was brought into the garden of
Eden, or pleasure : " there he put the man whom he
had formed." Man must be new-formed, before he
be brought into that place, which is the antitype of
Eden, the place of eternal and spiritual pleasure. A
natural man can no more relish the rewards of heaven,
than a dead carcass can esteem a crown, and a purple
robe: or be delighted with the true pleasure of heaven,
than a swine that loves to wallow in the mire, can be
delighted with a bed of roses. A disorder in nature,
is a prohibition to all happiness belonging to that na-
ture. A distempered body, under the fury of a disease,
can find no delight in the pleasures of the healthful.
A wicked man, with a troubled and foaming sea of
sin, and lust in his mind, would find no more rest in
heaven, than a man, with disjointed members upon a
rack, can in the beauty of a picture. We must be
** spiritually minded," before we can have either " life
or peace." Righteousness in the soul, is the necessary
qualification for the peace and joy in the kingdom of
God, " The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but
righteousness and peace, and joy in the Hoi v Ghost,"
Rom. xiv. 17. While malice remains in the devil's
nature, were he admitted into heaven, he would re-
ceive a torment instead of a content. A wicked man
would meet with hell in the mjdst of heaven, as long

7

74 THE NECESSITY

as he carries his own rack within him, boiling and
raging lusts in his heart, which can receive no con-
tentment, without objects suitable to them, let the
place be what it will. Heaven indeed, is not only a
place, but a nature ; and it is a contradiction to think
that any can be happy with a nature contrary to the
very essence of happiness.

The pleasure and reward of heaven is a perfect like-
ness to God and Christ. This is the great privilege
of heaven, which the apostle, in the midst of his igno-
rance of other particulars, resolves upon as certain, as
that which results from regeneration, and being the
sons of God, and is the full preparation for the beatific
vision, " Now we are the sons of God, and it doth not
yet appear what we shall be ; but we know, that when
he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see
him as he is." 1 John iii. 2. He seems to intimate
this, that we can never be like him when he doth ap-
pear, unless we be now, while we are here, the sons
of God ; nor ever be admitted to a sight of him. As
Christ presented himself without spot to God, when
he laid the foundation of our redemption ; so he pre-
sents his people without blemish to God, when he lays
on the top stone of it in our glorification. Now as we
cannot be like to Christ in our walk here, without a
new birth ; neither can we without it, be like Christ in
glory hereafter. It is not the place makes us like to
God, but there must be a likeness to God, to make the
place pleasant to us. When once the angels had cor-
rupted their nature, the short stay they made in
heaven after, neither pleased, nor reformed them. And
when Satan appeared before God, among the angels,
neither God's presence, nor his speaking to him did
any wise better him. He came a devil, and he went
away so, without any pleasure in the place, or pre-
sence, but by the permission of God to wreak his
malice on holy Job. An unlikeness to God, is the
misery of the creature. It is therefore impossible,
whilst the soul remains in that state, that it can arrive

OF REGENERATION. T&

at blessedness, because it is a contradiction, to think
a felicity can be enjoyed in a contrariety to, and
separation from the fountain of it, " Lo, they that are
far from thee, shall perish." Psa. Ixxiii. 27. It is by
faith beholding the glory of the Lord in the glass of
the gospel here, that we must be transformed into his
image, before we can be changed into his glory. And
we cannot be like God by holy actions only, though
we had performed as many of them, as all the holy
men in the world ever did, as to the matter of them,
abstracted from the principle and end : and the reason
is, because God is not only holy in his actions, but
holy in his nature; and therefore we must not only have
actions materially good, but a holy nature suitable to
the holiness of God, otherwise we neither are, nor
ever can be like him.

The fruition of God is a privilege of heaven, which
necessarily follows this likeness. God is the eternal
portion of glorified souls, upon which they live. He
is the strength of their hearts : there is none but God
in heaven who is the chief object of their love and
delight. The presence of God makes the fulness
of joy. His favour and the light of his glorious
countenance, constitute heaven and happiness; not the
place, but the countenance. God's frown kindles hell,
and his smile renders any place an heaven. Now an
old nature cannot have a good look from God ; for
since he is infinitely holy, he must hate unholiness ;
infinitely true, he must hate falsity. As it is impos-
sible a man can love truth and falsity, righteousness
and unrighteousness, as such, at one and the same
time, in an intense degree ; therefore an impure nature
cannot be happy, unless God be mutable. God cannot
smile on the old Adam, unless he hate himself. What
satisfaction can such a one possibly have in God's
presence 1 How can he savour the society of God,
that never loved it ? Do we naturally love any warm
mention of God ? Have we not a stony deadness to
any heavenly motion that falls upon us ? A mighty

76 THE NECESSITY

quickness to receive sinful motions in that which we
love? Do not our countenances fall, and our delight
take wings to itself, and fly away, at any lively
appearance of God. If we have such an enmity to
his law, which is but a transcript of his holiness, much
greater must our enmity be to the original copy.
Hence in Scripture men are said to " refuse his law."
Psa. Ixxviii. 10, to "forsake his law." Psa. cxix. 53,
to be " far from his law." Psa. cxix. 150. Darkness
doth not more naturally vanish at the appearance of
the sun, than an old nature will fly from the glory and
brightness of God. A mass of black darkness, and an
immense sphere of hght, may as soon be espoused to-
gether, as a friendly amity be struck up between God
and an unrenewed man. God is light without dark-
ness ; man is darkness itself, as if nothing else entered
into the composition of his corrupt nature. If there
be therefore a disagreement, contrariety, and unwill-
ingness on both sides, how can any pleasing corres-
pondence be effected ? If God should bring a man,
with his corrupt nature, into a local heaven, God
could not please himself in it, nor such an one delight
himself in God, no more than a swine can be pleased
with the presence of an angel, or a mole sport itself
with the beauty of flowers, or a vitiated eye rejoice at
the brightness of light. We must really make God
such an one as we shape him in our natural fancy,
before we can take any pleasure in converse with
him. Our nature therefore must be changed, before
we can please him, or be satisfied in him. His pre-
sence else will cause fear, while our sinful state re-
mains, an aflfection inconsistent with happiness.

Inferences.— U regeneration be absolutely necessary
to a gospel state, and the enjoyment of eternal glory
in heaven ; then it informs us, how much the nature
of man is depraved. For otherwise there were no need
of his being born again : and no reason could be ima-
gined, why our blessed Saviour should so pressingly
urge the necessity of it. If man's nature were accord-

OF REGENERATION. 77

ing to his original frame, it would please God, because
it was of his own creation. But we are flesh by our
natural birth ; and therefore to be happy, we must be
spiritual by a second birth.

If regeneration be so necessary, then how much to
be lamented is the ignorance of this doctrine in the
world ? And strange and sad it is, that it should be
so little considered. The common talk is of serving
God, and reforming the life ; but who of a thousand
speaks of the necessity of a new nature? It is a sad
case, that \v^hen a doctrine is so clear, men should be
so stupid, and deludingly damn themselves; that they
should be so willfully ignorant of this, who have Bibles
in their hands and houses ; yet not understand this,
which is the great purpose for which God sent the
Scripture among the sons of men. It is a shame not
to have the knowlege of this great and necessary
truth. As the apostle in another case, " Some have
not the knowledge of God : I speak this to your
shame." 1 Cor. xv. 24. How strange and uncouth
doth this doctrine sound in the ears of the carnal
world, who wonder at it, as Nicodemus did at our
Saviour's proposal ; and think all our discourses of it
an heap of enthusiastic nonsense? It is as if we would
speak parables ; as if you should talk of astronomy to
the natural fool, or read divinity in Arabic to a man
who understands only his native language. How little
sensible is the world of the necessity of this work 1
They expect Christ should change their misery mto
glory, without changing their hearts, and fitting their
spirits for it, which will never be. They think it
enough for them that Christ was conceived in the
womb of the Virgin, without being formed again in
their souls ; as the poor Jews at this day expect a
Messiah, not to alter the frame of their souls, but the
frame of the world; not to subdue their spirits, but
to conquer the nations to be their vassals. How
should this stupidity of men be a matter of lamenta-
tion to us!

7*

78 THE NECESSITY

If regeneration be so absolutely necessary, how
should Christian parents endeavour all they can to
have their children regenerated? There is no neces-
sity they should have great estates, and live ostenta-
tiously in the world : but there is a necessity, a great
necessity, they should be new creatures, and live
spiritually. In leaving the one to your children, you
leave them but earth ; in leaving the other, you con-
vey heaven to them. There is an obligation upon
you ; their old polluted nature was derived from you
by carnal generation; make them amends by endea-
vouring to secure grace to them by spiritual instruc-
tion: you made them children of wrath; why will
you not endeavour to make them children of God and
heirs of heaven. Education of itself will not produce
this noble work ; nor the bare hearing of the word,
or any outward means whatsoever, by their own
strength; yet the Spirit doth often bless them, and
very much ; and I doubt not but a great number that
are regenerated had the first seeds sown in them by
a religious education : and I have made the observa-
tion in many. Timothy had a religious education,
both by his mother and grandmother, though this did
not renew him ; for Paul, by the preaching of the
gospel, was the instrument of that : he calls him his
own son in the faith : yet no question his religious
instructions from his parents did much facilitate this
work. Use all endeavour, therefore, to convince them
of the necessity of a new birth ; be earnest with them
till you see it produced, that they may not curse you
for being the instruments of their beings, but bless
you for being the instruments of their spiritual life.

This doctrine acquaints us with the insufficiency of
every thing else, without this, to enable us to enter
into the kingdom of God.

Great knowledge is not sufficient. All the wisdom
of Solomon in a man, though it may enable him to
take an exact measure of nature from the highest star,
to the meanest insect, doth no more fit him for heaven.

OF REGENERATION. 79

than the shining skin of a serpent expels his venomous
nature. We have more relics of Adam's nature in
know^ledge, than we have in righteousness. To be
a philosopher, physician, or statesman, is not essen-
tial to happiness in this world ; much less can it pre-
pare a man for the happiness of another. But grace
is as essential to it, as natural heat, and radical mois-
ture are to the life of a man. Jesus Christ came not
to make us scholars in natural things, but to endue us
with such a knowledge, as is in order to eternal hap-
piness ; and with such a renewing principle, as might
make us capable of heaven. Knowledge and wis-
dom are some of the choicest flowers in nature's
garden. But it will be a small advantage, to descend
to hell with our brains full of wit and sophistry. One
saving cry from a new-born infant soul, is of more
value than the knowledge of all philosophers. We
may possess great knowledge of Revelation, and the
doctrines it contains, and be ignorant of God. Nico-
demus had a good stock of this ; he understood the
letter of the Scripture ; was well read in all the parts
of the law; he was thought fit to be one of the great
Sanhedrim; something else was requisite besides this;
a new birth was still wanting. What if we understood
the mind of the Spirit of God in every verse in the
Bible ; were able to discourse profoundly of the great
mysteries of the gospel; had the gift of prophecy, and
knowledge of things to come ; had the interpretation
of the whole book of the revelation writ in our minds;
what will all this avail us? An evangelical head
will be but drier fuel for eternal burning, without an
evangelical impression upon the heart, and the badge
of a new nature. Men may prophesy in Christ's
name ; in his name cast devils out of bodies, and
devils of error out of men's brains ; yet not be regard-
ed by Christ : but he says to them, " I never knew
you : depart from me, ye that work iniquity." If they
had had this mark, and gospel impression, our Lord
would have known them. Christ in heaven would

80 THE NECESSITY

have owned himself formed in the heart : he could not
have been ignorant of his own nature and offspring.

Well then: a man may have all the learning of
Christians and heathen stored up in his head, and not
the least stamp of it in his heart. He may be wise in
knowledge, and a fool in improvement. A heap and
pack of knowledge is not wisdom among men, with-
out an application of that knowledge to particular
exigencies and usefulness.

Outward reformation is not sufficient. Regenera-
tion is never without reformation of life : but this may
be without that ; we may be outward Christians, with-
out an inward principle, though we can never be in-
ward Christians, without an outward holiness. The
new birth is properly an internal work, and shows
itself externally; as the heat of the heart, and vital
parts, will evidence itself in outward motions : " the
king*s daughter is all glorious within," as well as with-
out, Psa. xlv. 13. What a vanity would it be, to boast
of freedom from other diseases, if thou hast the plague
upon thee ? What a poor comfort is it, to brag of
thy being without gross immoralities, whilst the
plague of thy nature remains uncured? Outward
reformation anly (though of excellent use,) is but a
new appearance, not a new creature; a change of life,
not of the heart: whereas this work we discourse of,
is a new birth in the understanding and will ; it begins
at the spirit, and descends from thence to the body.
1 Thess. V. 23. It is a sanctification in spirit, soul,
and then body. Can that which can be no evidence
to us in self-examination, be of itself sufficient to waft
us to heaven? If you retire to take a view of your-
selves, whether you belong to God, will you judge by
your outward actions, or inward frame 1 There is
no characteristic dillerence in any external action,
between a true Christian, and an hypocrite; that there-
fore which is not a suflicient evidence to us, of a right
to happiness, cannot be a sufficient preparation of
ourselves for it.

OF REGENERATION.

81

Morality is not sufficient. By morality, I mean,
not only an outward reformation, but some love to
moral virtue, as the heathen had, raised upon the
thoughts of the excellency of it. Nicodemus was a
moral man : he had some affection to Christ, upon the
consideration of his miracles ; he had never else ven-
tured to come to him, so much as by night. He had
no blot upon his conversation ; he had desires to be
instructed. This was more than a bare abstinence
from sin ; yet notwithstanding, besides those moral
qualifications, he must have a new birth, before he
can see the kingdom of God. Men may do much
good, be very useful to others in their generation, yet
be in the very bottom of unregeneracy. An healing
witch, as well as a hurting one, is the devil's client,
and in covenant with him. There is not so great a
difference between the highest degree of glory in
heaven, and the lowest degree of grace on earth, as
there is between the lowest degree of saving grace,
and the highest degree of natural excellency; because
the difference between these is specific, as between
a rational and irrational creature ; the difference be-
tween the other, is only in degree, as between an in-
fant and a man. It is one thing to have a love to
moral virtue, another thing to have a love to God in
it ; one thing to move for self, and another thing to
move for the glory of the Creator : one thing to be
animated by reason, and another thing to be inspired
by the Holy Ghost. What can a moral honesty profit
that man, who values the world's dung above the
Creator's glory ? What though he be honest, and
useful to his neighbours, must his affection to God be
measured by his honesty among men? The great
business is from what principle it flows. What if he
doth good to others, whilst he doth his Creator wrong,
by fostering any one thing in his heart above him »
Can his goodness to others, make a compensation for
his disesteem of God 1 The greatest man in the whole
world, who hath no other descent than from Adam,

82 THE NECESSITY

must have a new quality put into his heart, before
he can be happy : for if a new birth be necessary, all
endowments below it, are to no purpose for the at-
tainment of that state for which it is intended. What-
soever is of the old Adam in us, though it be a beau-
tiful flower, must wither and die, " For all flesh is as
grass, and the glory of man, as the flower of grass;
the grass withers, and the flower thereof fadeth
away." 1 Pet. i. 23, 24. The apostle sets in oppo-
sition, the incorruptible seed, whereby they were
born, and the fairest flowers in nature's garden.
The best thing which a man glories in, is a flower,
but withering : it is a glory, but the glory of the flesh:
it hath no lustre in the sight of God : it is not a flower
to be set in heaven : it is only the word of God, and
the impressions made on us by that word, which en-
dure for ever. As herbs cannot grow without par-
taking of the natural influence, and beams of the sun,
so nothing stands and flourishes, but what partakes
of the nature and Spirit of Christ. Nay, it is so far
from being sufficient, that it is a great hindrance of
regeneration, without the overpowering grace of God,
because it is the glory of a man ; that is, that wherein
a man glories. Men are apt to rest upon their morals,
without reflecting upon their naturals. They see no
spots in their Uves ; and therefore will not believe
there are any in their hearts. They are so taken up
with the Pharisee, their proud thoughts of their being
above others, that they never think how much they
have inwardly of the publican, in coming short of the
glory of God. Unregenerate morality therefore is
not sufficient. The heart must be changed, before
moral virtues can commence graces. When this is
once done, what were moral before, become divine,
as having a new principle to quicken them, and a new
end to direct them.

Re'igious professions are not sufficient. Can you
upon a serious consideration conclude, that this only
is the import of all those Scriptures which speak of

OF REGENERATION. 83

being born of God, raised fronn a death in sin, quick-
ened and led by the Spirit, created in righteousness
and true hohness 1 Are not these things in the very
manner of speaking them, elevated above any mere
profession, which may be declared to the world with-
out any such work, which is the evident intention of
those Scriptures ] It is not the naming the name of
Christ, but the departing from iniquity; a departing
from it in our nature, as well as in our actions, that
is the badge whereby the Lord knows who are his:
" The Lord knows who are his : and let every one
that names the name of Christ, depart from iniquity."
2 Tim. ii. 19. Religious profession is only but a
form, a figure, a shape of godliness : a picture made
by art, without life and power and an enlivened
faculty, and a divine principle whence it should pro-
ceed ; it is but a name of life at best under a state of
death : " Thou hast a name, that thou livest, and art
dead." Rev. iii. L Professions without a new nature,
are no more the things God requires of us, than sacri-
fices under the law, without a broken heart : it is not
a following our Saviour in profession, but in regene-
ration which gives the apostles a title to that promise
of sitting upon hi§ throne in glory: "Ye that have
followed me in the regeneration, ye shall sit upon
twelve thrones, judging t-he twelve tribes of Israel."
Matt. xix. 28. Judas had followed Christ till that
time, and after, in a profession, but not in the regene-
ration, not from a regenerated principle.

Multitudes of external religious duties and privi-
leges are not sufficient. Men are very apt to place
their security here : it was the great labour of the
prophet Isaiah, to bring the Jews in his time off' from
them : God doth not require attendance on ordinances,
as the ultimate end, but as means to the beginning
and promoting a new birth: " To what purpose is the
multitude of your sacrifices to me ? Wash ye, make
ye clean." Isa. i. 11, 16. The resting in these is the
manifest destruction of men's souls, when thousands

84

THE NECESSITY

of sacrifices to God cannot be acceptable without a
new nature. We naturally afiect an easy religion ;
and outward acts of worship, especially under the
gospel, have no great difficulty in them. Men would
rather be at great expense of sacrificing, than crucify
one beloved sin ; and bow a thousand times before the
cross of Christ, than nail one corruption to it. How
easy a work were it, to get to heaven, if nothing else
were required but to be a member of the visible Chris-
tian church ? Circumcision was a privilege, but it
availed nothing without a new creature. There was
another circumcision made without hands, the work
of God, that was required ; a new creature, without
which, outward circumcision signified nothing. The
practice of some duties may stand with an inward
hatred of them, as the abstinence from some sins may
stand with an inward love to them. Outward wor-
ship is but a carcass, when the soul is not conformed
to God, the object of worship ; and doth not attain an
union to, and communion with God, which is the end
of worship ; what are all acts of worship without a
nature suitable to the God we approach unto in them?
Judge not therefore of your state, by any external
actions ; no outward act, but unregenerate persons
may do, yea, they may express much zeal in them ;
they may have their bodies as martyrs consumed by
flames, without having their corruption consumed by
grace ; an impure breath may make as good music
to the ear in a pipe, as a sound one : there is some-
thing more necessary than a bare performance of duties.
Nay more, convictions are not sufficient. Nico-
demus was startled by our Saviour's miracles, be-
lieved him to be a prophet sent by God, acknow-
ledged that God was with him, yet still the necessary
qualification of a new birth was wanting. Youi
spirits may be torn in pieces by terror, the heart of
stone may be rent asunder, and yet no heart of
flesh appear; the ground may be ploughed, yet not
sown ; sensuality and lust may be kept under by a

OP REGENERATION. S5

Spirit of bondage, when it is not cast out by a spirit
of adoption : the sun may scorch you, and not enliven
you : the knowledge of the foulness of sin, and the
fierceness of wrath, is the work of the Spirit in the
law; the new birth is the work of the Spirit in the
gospel ; the stone may be cut and hewed by the law,
and yet never polished by the gospel, never brought
into covenant : " I have hewed them by my prophets,
but they like men have transgressed the covenant."
Hos. vi. 5, 7. It is not then great knowledge, fair
coloured fruit, loud professions, glittering services, or
tearing convictions, which are this badge, whereby
Christ knows his own from all the world besides; all
these will be answered, " I know you not." Js it not
then a necessary work, and high time to get that new
nature, whereb}^ God will know thee to belong to him?
Professions may be false, outward reformation may
be but as a painted sepulchre : knowledge only elevates
the understanding, but as our communion lies in the
acts of the will, there must be some work upon that
to fit us for our great happiness. If these things are
not sufficient, then profane men cannot expect heaven
by the way of hell.

If regeneration be so absolutely necessary to salva-
tion, how miserable is the condition of every unrege-
nerate man! What a miserable case is it, that sinners
should dream on in their delusions, till everlasting
burnings confute their fancies, and turn their hopes
into dreadful despair ! Oh, how do most men live, as
if this doctrine were a mere falsity; and act as if they
would take heaven by the violence of their lusts, not
by the industry of grace! Know you not that an un-
righteous nature shall not inherit the kingdom of God ?
" Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
the kingdom of God ? be not deceived," &c. 1 Cor. vi.
9. Is it possible you should be ignorant of that which
stares you in the face, in every page of the Bible? If
you know not this, you know nothing. Be not de-
ceived : nothing is so natural as heart deceit, and pre-

8

86 NECESSITY OF REGENERATION.

sumptuous confidence ; the apostle else would not have
spoken of it, with such an emphasis, but that he knew
how apt men are to delude themselves with hopes of
mercy in a state of sin. Self flattery is one of the
strongest branches, which grows upon the pride of
nature. How vain is it to fancy to yourselves a fitness
for heaven, while there are only preparations for hell 1
Whence should such imaginations arise? Not from
God ; it is contrary to all his declarations. Is it from
yourselves ? What reason have you to believe youi
fancies in spiritual things, who are so often mistaken
in temporal 1 Is it from the devil ] What reason have
you to believe your greatest enemy 1 If this work be
wrought, he hath for ever lost you : it is he that
cherishes such notions, for he hath no pleasure to undo
his kingdom, and lose his subjects, Never did any
man use so much diligence to get a new nature, as the
devil doth to hinder him.

SECOND GENERAL TOPIC.

THE

NATURE OF REGENERATION.

CHAPTER I.

Difficulty of explaining the nature of Regeneration —How it
differs from conversion —How from Justification —How from
Adoption — How from Sanctification —It is not a removal of
the old faculties, nor a change of the essential acts of the soul,
nor an awakening of some hidden, gracious principle of the
soul, nor an actual addition to our nature, nor mere Baptism.

I PROCEED now to show the nature of regene-
ration, the necessity of which I have already insisted
upon.

It is difficult to describe exactly the Nature of Re-
generation :

Because of the disputes about it ; whether it be a
quality, or a spiritual substance ; whether, if a quality,
it be a habit, or a power, or whether it be the Holy
Ghost personally. The Scripture discovers it to us,
under the terms of the new creature, a new heart, a
law, put into us, the image of God, a divine nature;
these, though Scripture terms, are difficult to explain.

It is difficult, because it is visible, not in itself, but
in its effects. We know seed doth propagate itself,
and produce its like, but the generative part in the
seed lies covered with husks and skin, so that it is
hard to tell in what atom or point the generative par-
ticle doth lie. We know we have a soul, yet it is
hard to tell what the soul is, and in what part it doth
principally reside. We know there are angels, yet

87

88 THE NATURE

what mortal can give a description of that glorious
nature 1 It is much like the wind, as our Saviour
describes it : " The wind bloweth where it listeth, and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell
whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth : so is everjr
one that is born of the Spirit." John iii. 8. The wind
we feel, we see the effects of it, yet cannot tell how it
ariseth, where it doth repose itself, and how it is
allayed : and all the notions of philosophy about it,
will not satisfy a curious inquirer : so likewise it is in
this business of regenertion ; the effects of it are
known, there are certain characters whereby to dis-
cern it ; but to give a description of the nature of it,
is not so easy.

It is difficult, because of the natural ignorance
which is still in the minds of the best. A man cannot
understand all iniquity, for there is a mystery of ini-
quity; neither can he fully understand this work, for
there is a mystery of godliness ; not only in the whole
scheme of it without, but in the whole frame of it in
the heart. It is called the " hidden man of the heart."
1 Pet. iii. 4. Hidden from the world, hidden from
reason, hidden from the sight sometimes of them that
have it: a man can hardly sometimes see it in his own
heart, by reason of the steams of corruption ; as a
beautiful picture is not visible in a cloud of smoke.
The blindness the god of this world hath wrapt us in,
that we might not know God, or the things of God, is
not wholly taken off. And even what we know of the
truths of God, suffers an eclipse by our carnal con-
ceptions of them ; for all the notions we frame of them,
have a tincture of sense and fancy.

It is hard for those to conceive it, who have no ex-
perience of it. If we speak of the motions of natural
corruption, as wrath, passion, distrust of God, and
enormous sins, men can easily understand this; be-
cause we have all sad experience of an inward cor-
ruption ; but the methods and motions of the Spirit of
God in this work, are not comprehended, but by those

OF REGENERATION. 89

that have felt the power of them. The motions of sin
are more sensible, the motions of the Spirit more secret
and inward, and men want as much the experience
of the one, as they have too much of the other. Hence
it is that many carnal men love to have the nature of
sin explained and discovered ; partly perhaps, for this
reason among others, that they can better understand
that, by the daily evidence of it in their own practices;
whereas other things, out of the reach of their expe-
rience, are out of the grasp of their understanding;
and therefore seem to them paradoxes and incredible
things : the spiritual man is not judged or discerned
by any, but them that are spiritual. It is certainly
true, that as a painter can better delineate a stormy
and cloudy air, than the serenity of a clear day, and
the spectator conceive it with more pleasure : so it is
more easy to represent the agitations and afiections of
natural corruption, than the inward frame of a soul
wrought by the Spirit of God. I shall therefore des-
cribe it consonantly to the Scripture, thus: Regenera-
tion is a mighty and powerful change, wrought in the
soul by the efficacious working of the Holy Spirit,
wherein a vital principle, a new habit, the law of God,
and a divine nature are put into, and framed in the
heart, enabling it to act holy and pleasingly to God,
and to grow up therein to eternal glory. This is in-
cluded in the term of a new creature in the text.
There is a change, a creation; that which was not, is
brought into a state of being. If a new creature, and
in Christ, then surely not a dead but a living creature,
having a principle of life; and if a living creature,
then possessed of some power to act, and habits to
make those actions easy : and if a power to act, and
a habit to facilitate that act, then a law in their nature
as the rule of their acting; every creature hath so: in
this respect the heavens are said to have ordinances ;
" knowest thou the ordinances of heaven ?" and they
seem to act in the way of a covenant, according to
such articles a& God hath pitched upon. And lastly,

8*

90 THE NATURE

as in all creatures thus endued, there is a likeness to
some other things in the rank of beings: so in this new
creature there is a likeness to God, whence it is called
the image of God in holiness and righteousness; and a
divine nature. So that you seethe divers expressions
whereby the Scripture declares this work of regene-
ration, are included in this term of the new creature,
or the new creation, as the word is. It is a certain
spiritual and supernatural principle, or permanent form,
infused by God, whereby it is made partaker of the
divine nature, and enabled to act for God.

Let us therefore see how it differs from other states
of the Christian.

It differs from conversion. Regeneration is a spiri-
tual change, conversion is a spiritual motion. In re-
generation there is a power conferred ; conversion is
the exercise of this power. In regeneration there is
given us a principle to turn; conversion is our actual
turning ; that is the principle whereby we are brought
out of a state of nature, into a state of grace : and con-
version the actual fixing on God. Conversion is re-
lated to regeneration, as the effect to the cause. Life
precedes motion, and is the cause of motion. In the
covenant, the new heart, the new Spirit, and God's
putting his Spirit into them, are distinguished from
their walking in his statutes, from the first step we
take in the way of God, and is set down as the cause
of our motion: "I will cause you to walk in my
statutes." In renewing us, God gives us a power ; in
converting us he excites that power. Men are natu-
rally dead, and have a stone upon them. Regenera-
tion is rolling away the stone from the heart, and a
raising to newness of life ; and then conversion is as
natural to a regenerate man, as motion is to a living
body. A principle of activity will produce action.

In regeneration, man is wholly passive : in conver-
sion, he is active ; as a child in its first formation in
the womb, contributes nothing to the first infusion of
life ; but after it hath life, it is active, and its motion

OF REGENERATION.

91

natural. The first reviving of us is wholly the act of
God, without any concurrence of the creature ; but
after we are revived, we do actively and voluntarily
live in his sight; "he will revive us, he will raise us
up, and then we shall live in his sight," then we shall
walk before him, then shall we " follow on to know
the Lord." Hos. vi. 2. Regeneration is the motion of
God in the creature ; conversion is the motion of the
creature to God, by virtue of that first principle; from
this principle all the acts of believing, repenting, mor-
tifying, quickening, do spring : in all these a man is
active ; in the other merely passive ; all these are the
acts of the will, by the assisting grace of God, after
the infusion of the first grace : conversion is a giving
ourselves to the Lord: giving our own selves to the
Lord is a voluntary act, but the power whereby we
are enabled thus to give ourselves, is wholly and
purely in every part of it from the Lord himself. A
renewed man is said to be " led by the Spirit," Rom.
viii. 14, not dragged, not forced : the putting a bias
and aptitude in the will, is the work of the Spirit
quickening it ; but the moving the will to God by the
strength of this bias, is voluntary, and the act of the
creature. The Spirit leads as a father doth a child
by the hand: the father gave him that principle of Hfe,
and conducts him, and hands him in his motion ; but
the child hath a principle of motion in himself, and a
will- to move. The day of regeneration is solely the
day of God's power, wherein he makes men willing to
turn to him. So that though in actual conversion the
creature be active, it is not from the power of man,
though it be from a power in man ; not growing up
from the impotent root of nature, but settled there by
the Spirit of God.

It difliers from justification. By justification we are
reconciled to God; by regeneration we are assimilated
and made like to God. They always go together. As
our Saviour's resurrection, which was the justifica-
tion of him from that guilt which he had taken upon

92

THE NATURE

himself, and a public pronouncing him to be his right-
eous servant, is called a new begetting him, " God hath
raised up Jesus again, as it is also written in the
second Psalm : thou art my Son, this day have I be-
gotten thee." Acts xiii. 33 ; because it was a mani-
festation of him to be the Son of God, who before,
being covered with our infirmities, did not appear so
to the world : so our justification from guilt, and new
begetting us, and manifesting us to the angels, to be
the sons of God, are at one and the same time, and
both are by grace ; by grace you are justified, Rom.
V. 1, the quickening and raising us together with
Christ is by grace. The blessing of Abraham, w^hich
is the application of redemption from the curse of the
law, and the receiving the promise of the Spirit by
faith, are both together.

It differs from justification in the nature of the
change.

Justification is a relative change, whereby a man
is brought from a state of guilt to a state of right-
eousness ; from a state of slavery to a state of liberty ;
from the obligation of the covenant of works, to the
privilege of the covenant of grace; from being a child
of wrath to be an heir of promise. Regeneration is
a spiritual change, and real, as when a dead man is
raised from death to life ; it is a filling the soul with
another nature, " And you hath he quickened, who
were dead in trespasses and sins." Eph. ii. 1. It is
a change of nature, and of that nature whereby we
are children of wTath, not only by the first sin, but by
a conversation according to the course of the world.
And this quickening respects the change of that nature
which was prone to a worldly conversation, and a
fulfilling the desires of the flesh. The first is a change
of a man's condition, this a change in a man's dispo-
sition. When a man is made a magistrate, there is a
change in his relation ; when a servant or slave is
made a free man, there is an alteration of his condi-
tion ; but neither the one's magistracy, nor the other's

OF REGENERATION.

M

liberty fills their hearts with new principles, or plants
a new frame in their nature. Relation and nature are
two distinct things. In creation there is a relation of
a creature to God, which results from the mere being
of the creature ; but there is also the nature of the
creature in such a rank of being, which is added over
and above to its mere being. The apostle in the verses
following the text, speaks of reconciliation, or non-
imputation of our trespasses, as distinct from that
change wrought in us in the new creation. In justifi-
cation we are freed from the guilt of sin, and so have
a title to life ; in regeneration we are freed from the
filth of sin, and have the purity of God's image in part
restored to us.

Justification is the immediate fruit of the blood of
Christ, "Being justified by his blood;" regeneration
is by the immediate operation of the Spirit ;" therefore
called " the sanctification of the Spirit ;" the matter
of that is without us, the righteousness of Christ ; the
matter of the other within us, a gracious habit : the
form of the one, is imputing ; the form of the other,
is infusing or putting into us : they diflfer in the end ;
one is from condemnation to absolution ; the other
from pollution to communion. In the immediate
eflfect, one gives us a right, the other a fitness. In
their qualities, the righteousness of one is perfect in
our Head, and imputed to us. The righteousness by
regeneration is actively in us, and aspires to perfection.

It diflfers from adoption. Adoption follows upon
justification, as a dignity flowing from union to Christ,
and doth suppose reconciliation. Adoption gives us
the privilege of sons, regeneration the nature of sons.
Adoption relates us to God as a father ; regeneration
engraves upon us the lineaments of a father. That
makes us relatively his sons by conferring a power;
this makes us formally his sons by conveying a prin-
ciple. By that we are instated in the divine affection;
bj this we are partakers of the divine nature. Adop-
tion doth not constitute us the children of God by an

94

THE NATURE

intrinsic form, but by an extrinsic acceptation ; but
this gives us an intrinsic right ; or adoption gives us
a title, and the Spirit gives us an earnest ; grace is the
pledge of glory. Redemption being applied in justifi-
cation, makes way for adoption. Adoption makes
way for regeneration, and is the foundation of it.
*' God sent forth his Son to redeem them that were
under the law, that we might receive the adoption of
sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth
the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba,
Father." Gal. iv. 5, 6. Because you are thus adopted,
God will make you like his Son, by sending forth the
Spirit of his Son, to intimate the likeness it shall pro-
duce in the hearts of men to Christ, that you may cry,
Abba, Father; behave yourselves like sons, and have
recourse to God with a child-like nature. The rela-
tion to Christ as brethren is founded upon this new
creature, *' For both he that sanctifies, and they who
are sanctified, are all of one." Heb. ii. 11. They are
all of one nature, not the divine nature which Christ
had by eternal generation, but that divine nature Christ
had by the Spirit's unction. And being of one nature,
he is not ashamed, though glorious in heaven, to call
them brethren ; and being Christ's brethren by a divine
nature, thence results also the relation of the sons of
God.

It diflfers from sanctification. Habitual sanctifica-
tion indeed is the same thing with this new creature ;
as habitual rectitude with the spiritual life of Adam :
but actual sanctification, and the gradual progress of
it, grows from this principle as from a root. Faith
purifies the heart, *' Purifying their hearts by fiiith."
Acts XV. 9. And is the cause of this gradual sancti-
fication ; but faith is part of this new creature, and
that which is a part cannot be the cause of the whole,
for then it would be the cause of itself. We are not
regenerated by faith, though we are sanctified by
faith ; but we are new created by the Spirit of God,
infusing faith into us. Faith produceth the acts of

OF REGENERATION. 95

grace, but. not the habit of grace, because it is of itself
a part of this habit ; for all graces are but one in the
habit or new creature; charity, and likewise e very-
other grace is but the bubbling up of a pure heart and
good conscience. Regeneration seems to be the life
of this gradual sanctification, the health and liveliness
of the soul.

Regeneration is not a removal or taking away of
the old substance or faculties of the soul. Some
thought that the substance of Adam's soul was cor-
rupted when he sinned, therefore suppose the sub-
stance of his soul to be altered when he is renewed.
Sin took not away the essence, but the rectitude ; the
new creation therefore gives not a new faculty, but a
new quality. The cure of the leprosy is not a de-
stroying of the fabric of the body, but the disease ;
yet in regard of the greatness of man's corruption,
the soul is so much changed by these new habits,
that it is, as it were, a new soul, a new understanding,
a new will. It is not the destroying the metal, but
the old stamp upon it, to imprint a new: human nature
is preserved, but the corruption in it expelled.

The substance of gold is not destroyed in the fire,
though the metal and the flame mix together, and
fire seems to be incorporated with every part of it ;
but it is made more pliable to what shape the artist
will cast it into, but remains gold still : it is not the
breaking the candlestick, but setting up a new light
in it ; not a destroying the will, but putting a new
bias into it. It is a new-stringing the instrument, to
make a new harmony. It is an humbling the lofti-
ness, and bowing down the haughtiness of the spirit,
to exalt the Lord alone in the soul. The essential
nature of man, his reason and understanding, are not
taken away, but rectified. As a carver takes not
away the knots and grain in the wood, but planes
and smoothes it, and carves the image of a man upon
it, the substance of the wood remains still ; so God
pares away the rugged pieces in man's understand-

96 THE NATURE

ing and will, and engraves his own image upon it ;
but the change is so great, that the soul seems to be
of another species and kind, because it is actuated by
that grace, which is another species from that princi-
ple which actuated it before. New creation is called
a resurrection : our Saviour in his resurrection had
the same body, but endued with a new quality. As
in Christ's transfiguration, neither his deity nor hu-
manity were altered, both natures remained the same.
But there was a metamorphosis, and a glorious bright-
ness conferred by the deity upon the humanity, which
it did not partake of before. So, though the essence
of the soul and faculties remain the same, yet another
kind of light is darted in, and other qualities implanted.
It was the same Paul when he complied with the body
of death, and when he complained of it, but he had
not the same disposition. As Adam in a state of cor-
ruption had the same faculties for substance, which he
had in the state of innocency; but the power, virtue,
and form in those faculties, whereby he was accepta-
ble to God, and in a capacity to please him, were
wholly abolished. We lose not our substantial form,
as Moses's rod did, when it was turned into a serpent;
or the water at Cana, when turned into wine. Our
nature is ennobled, not destroyed ; enriched, not
ruined; reformed, not annihilated.

It is not a change of the essential acts of the soul,
as acts : the passions and affections are the same, as
to the substance and nature of the acts ; but the dif-
ference lies in the object. And acts, though for sub-
stance the same, yet are specifically distinguished by
the diversity of objects about which they are conver-
sant. Whatsoever is a commendable quality in nature,
and left in man, by the interposition of the Mediator,
is not taken away; but the principle, end, and objects
of those acts, arising from those restored qualities,
are altered. The acts of a renewed man and the
acts of a natural man are the same in the nature of
acts ; as when a man loves God, and fears God, or

OF REGENEKATION. 97

'x>ves man, or fears man, it is the same act of love, and
the same act of fear: there are the same motions of
the soul, the same substantial acts simply considered;
the soul stands in the same posture in the one as in
the other ; but the difference lies in the objects ; the
object of the one is supernatural, the object of the
other natural. As when a man walks to the east or
west, it is the same motion in body and joints, the
same manner of going ; yet they are contrary motions,
because the terms to which they tend are contrary one
to the other : or, as when we bless God and bless men,
it is with one and the same tongue that we do both ;
yet these are acts specifically different, in regard of
the difference of their objects. The nature of the
affections still remains, though not the corruption of
them, and the objects to which they are directed are
different.

It is not an excitation, or awakening of some gra-
cious principle, which lay hid before in nature, under
the oppression of ill habits : as corn lay hid under the
chaff, but was corn still. Not a beating up something
that lay hid in nature ; not an awakening, as of a man
from sleep; but a resurrection, as of a man from death;
a new creation, as of a man from nothing. It is not
a stirring up old principles, and new kindling of them;
as a candle put out lately, may be blown in again by
the fire remaining in the snuflf*, and burn upon the old
stock; or as the life, which retired into the more secret
parts of the body, in those creatures that seem dead
in winter ; which is excited and called out to the exte-
rior parts, by the spring sun. Indeed there are some
sparks of moral virtues in nature, which want blowing
up by a good education; the foundation of these is in
nature, the exciting of them from instruction, the per-
fection of them from use and exercise. But there is
not in man the seed of one grace, but the seeds of all
sin: " I know, that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells
no good thing." Rom. vii. 18. Some good thing may
be in me, but it ariseth not from mv flesh ; it is not

9

J) 8 THE NATURE

from any seed sown by nature ; but it is another prin-
ciple put into me, which doth seminally contain in it
all grace; it is a putting a new seed into the soil, and
exciting it to grow; an incorruptible seed. There-
fore the Scripture doth not represent men in a trance
or sleep, but dead ; and so it is not only an awakening,
but a quickening, a resurrection. We are just in this
work, as our Saviour was when the devil came against
him, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath
nothing in me." John xiv. 30. He had nothing to
work upon in Christ. But he rakes in the ashes of our
nature, and finds sparks enough to blow upon : but
the Spirit finds nothing in us, but a stump, some con-
fused desires for happiness: he brings all the fire from
heaven, wherewith our hearts are kindled. This work
therefore is not an awakening of good habits, which
lay before oppressed, but a taking oflT those ill hahits,
which were so far from oppressing nature, that they
were connatural to it, and by incorporation with it,
had quite altered it from that original rectitude and
simplicity wherein God at first created it.

Nor is it an addition to nature. Christ was not an
addition to Adam but a new head by himself, called
Adam in regard of the agreement with him in the
notion of a head and common person. So neither
is the new creature, or Christ formed in the soul, an
addition to nature. Grace grows not upon the old
stock. It is not a piece of cloth sewed to an old gar-
ment, but the one is cast aside, the other wholly taken
on ; not one garment put upon another, but a taking
olf one, and a putting on another, *' Putting off' the
old man, putting on the new man." Col. iii. 9, 10. It
is a taking away what was before ; " old things are
passed away," and bestowing something that had no
footing before. It is not a new varnish, nor do old
things remain under a new paint; not new plaster
laid upon old; a new creature, not a mended crea-
ture. It is called light, which is not a quality added
to darkness, but a quality that expels it : it is a taking

OF REGENERATION. 99

away the stony heart and putting an heart of flesh in
the room. The old nature remains, not in its strength
with this addition, but is crucified, and taken away in
part with its attendants, " They that are Christ's have
crucified the flesh, with the aflcctions and lusts." Gal.
V. 24. As in the cure of a man, health is not added
to the disease; or in resurrection, life added to death;
but the disease is expelled, death removed, and another
form and habit set in the place. Add what you will,
without introducing another form, it will be of no more
efficacy, than flowers and perfumes strewed upon a
dead carcass, to restore it to life, and remove the
rottenness. It supposeth nothing before, as a subject
capable : nothing in a natural man, is a subject morally
capable to have grace, without the expulsion of the
old corrupt nature. It is called a new creature, a
new man ; not an improved creature, or a new dressed
man.

It is not external baptism. Many men take their
baptism for regeneration. The ancients usually give
it this term. One calls our Saviour's baptism his
regeneration. This confers not grace, but engageth
to it: outward water cannot convey inward life. How
can water, a material thing, w^ork upon the soul in a
spiritual manner? Neither can it be proved, that
ever the Spirit of God is tied by any promise, to
apply himself to the soul in a gracious operation, when
water is applied to the body. If it were so, that all
that were baptized, were regenerate ; then all that
were baptized, would be saved ; or else the doctrine
of perseverance falls to the ground. Baptism is a
mean of conveying this grace, when the Spirit is
pleased to operate with it. But it doth not work as
a physical cause upon the soul, as a purge doth upon
the humours of the body: for it is the sacrament of
regeneration, as the Lord's Supper is of nourishment.
As a man cannot be said to be nourished without faith,
so he cannot be said to be a new creature withput
faith. Put the most delicious meat into the mouth of

100

THE NATURE

a dead man, you do not nourish him, because he
wants a principle of life to concoct and digest it.
Faith alone is the principle of spiritual life, and the
principle which draws nourishment from the means
of God's appointment. Some indeed say, that regene-
ration is conferred in baptism upon the elect, and
exerts itself afterwards in conversion. But how so
active a principle as a spiritual life should lie dead,
and asleep so long, even many years which inter-
vene between baptism and conversion, is not easily
conceivable.

CHAPTER II.

What Regeneration is —It is a real change from nature to grace
— It is common to all the children of God —It is the contrary
of the former frame. — It is universal as it respects the whole
man —It is principally and inward change, a change of prin-
ciple and a change of end or object, a change of thoughts and
comforts —It is also an outward change, in regard to objects
and operations.

Let us see what it is positively.

It consists in a real change from nature to grace,
as well as by grace. The term of creation is real :
the form introduced in the new creature, is as real as
the form introduced by creation, into any being.
Scripture terms manifest it so. A divine nature, the
image of God, a law put into the heart, they are not
nominal and notional. It is a reality the soul par-
takes of; it gives a real denomination, a new man, a
new heart, a new spirit, a new creature, something
of a real existence ; it is called a resurrection. " The
Hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear
the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall
live." John v. 25. If Christ had said only, that the
hour shall come, it had been meant of the last resur-
rection ; but saying, that it was already come, it must

OF REGENERATION. 101

be meant of a resurrection in this life. There is as
real a resurrection of the soul, by the trumpet of the
gospel, accompanied with the vigorous efficacy of
the Holy Ghost, as there shall be of bodies by the
voice of the Son of God, at the sound of the trumpet
of the archangel. All real operations suppose some
real form vt^hence they flow; as vision supposeth a
power whereby a man sees, and also a nature wherein
that power is rooted. The operations of a new crea-
ture are real ; and therefore suppose a real power to
act, and a real habit as the spring of them. It is such
a being that enables them to produce real spiritual
actions ; for the spirit of power is conveyed to them ;
whereby as when they were out of Christ, they were
able to do nothing, so now being in him, they are able
to do all things.

It is a change common to all the children of God.
If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature : every
man in Christ is so. It is peculiar to them, and com-
mon to all of them. The new creation gives being
to all Christians. It is a new being settled in them,
a new impress and signature set upon them, whereby
they are distinguished from all men, barely considered
in their naturals. As all of the same species have the
same nature ; as all men have the nature of men, all
lions the nature of lions ; so all saints agree in one
nature : the life of God is communicated to all, whose
names are written in the book of life. All believers,
those in Africa, as well as those in Europe ; those in
Europe ; those in heaven, as well as those on earth,
have the same essential nature and change. As they
are all of one family, all actuated by one spirit, the
heart of one answers to the heart of another, as face
to face in a glass. What is a spirit of adoption in
them below, is a spirit of glory in them above ; what
in the renewed man below, is a spirit crying Abba,
Father ; that is in them above, a spirit rejoicing in
Abba, Father ; the impress and change are essentially
the same, though not the same in degree.
9*

102

THE NATURE

It is a change quite contrary to the former frame
What more contrary to light than darkness? Such a
change it is ; instead of a black darkness, there is a
bright light. As contrary as flesh and spirit ; " that
which is born of the flesh, is flesh ; that which is born
of the Spirit, is spirit." John iii. 6. Where both are
put in the abstract, one is the composition of flesh, the
other of spirit : as contrary as east to west ; as the seed
of the woman to the seed of the serpent ; as the spirit
of the world, and the Spirit of God. The frame of
the heart before the new creation, and the frame of
the heart after, bear as great a distance from one
another as heaven from earth. As God and sin are
the most contrary to one another; so an affection to
God, and an affection to sin, are the most contrary
affections. It is quite another bent of heart, as if a
man turn from north to south. It is a position quite
contrary to what it was ; the heart touched by grace,
stands full to God, as before to sin ; it is stripped of
its perverse inclinations to sin, clothed with holy
affections to God : he abhors what before he loved,
and loves what before he abhorred : he was alienated
from the life of God, but now alienated from the life
of his lusts: nothing would before serve him but God's
departure from him ; nothing will now please him, but
God's rays upon him. He was before tired with
God's service, now tired with his own sin. Before,
crucifying the motions of the Spirit, now crucifying
the affections and lusts. That which was before, his
life and happiness, is now his death and misery ; he
dislikes his foolish pastimes and sinful pleasures, as
much as man does the follies of his childhood; and is
as cheerful in loathing them, as before he was jolly in
committing them. It is a translation from one king-
dom to another ; a translation *' from the power of
darkness, into the kingdom of his dear Son." Colos. i.
13. A word taken from the transplanting of colonies:
they are in a contrary soil and climate, they have
other works, other laws, other privileges, other

OF REGENERATION. 103

natures: as Christ's resurrection was a state quite con-
trary to the former ; at the time of his death he was
in a state of guilt by reason of our sin ; at his resur-
rection he is freed from it ; he was before made under
the law, he is then freed from the curse of it ; he was
before in a state of death, after his resurrection in a
state of Hfe, and hves for ever. God pulls out the
heart of stone, that inflexibleness to him and his ser-
vice; and plants a heart of flesh in the room, a pliable-
ness to him and his will. It is as great a change, as
when a wolf is made a lamb, the nature of the wolf is
lost, and the lamb-like nature introduced. By corrup-
tion man was carnal and brutish ; by the new creation
he is spiritual and divine ; by corruption he hath the
image of the devil ; by this he is restored to the image
of God ; by that he had the seeds of all villanies ; by
this the roots of all graces : that made us fly from God,
this makes us return to him; that made us enemies to
his authority; this subjects us to his government; that
made us contemn his law ; this makes us prize and
obey it. " Instead of the thorn, there shall come up
the fir-tree ; instead of the briar, shall come up the
myrtle-tree," Isa. Iv. 14; and God will preserve it
from being cut off*, speaking of the time of redemp-
tion.

It is a universal change of the whole man. It is a
new creature, not only a new power, or new faculty:
this, as well as creation, extends to every part, under-
standing, will, conscience, afl^ections, all were cor-
rupted by sin, all are renewed by grace. Grace sets
up its ensigns in all parts of the soul, surveys every
corner, and triumphs over every lurking enemy ; it is
as large in renewing, as sin was in defacing. The
whole soul shall be glorified in heaven ; therefore the
whole soul shall be beautified by grace. The beauty
of the church is described in every part, Can. iv. 1,2,
3, 4, &c.

This new creation bears resemblance to creation
and generation. God in creation creates all parts of

104 THE NATURE

the creature entire. When nature forms a child in
the womb, it doth not only fashion one part, leaving
the other imperfect ; but labours about all, to form an
entire man : the Spirit is busy about every part in the
formation of the new^ creature. Generation gives the
whole shape to the child, unless it be monstrous. God
doth not produce monsters in grace ; there is th^
whole shape of the new man. You mistake much, if
you rest in a reformation of one part only ; God will
say, such a work was none of my creation. He doth
not do things by halves.

It bears proportion to corruption : as sin expelled
the whole frame of original righteousness, so regene-
rating grace expels the whole frame of original cor-
ruption. It was not only the head, or only the heart,
only the understanding, or only the will, that was
overcast with the blackness of sin ; but every part of
man did lose its original rectitude. Not a faculty
could boast itself, like the Pharisee, and say, it was
not like this or that publican; the waves of sin had
gone over the heads of every one of them. Sin, like
leaven, had infected the whole mass ; grace over-
spreads every faculty to drive out the contagion.
Grace is compared to light, and light is more or less
in every part of the air above the horizon, for the
expulsion of darkness when the sun ariseth. The
Spirit is compared to fire, and therefore pierceth
every part with his warmth, as heat ditiuseth itself
from the fire to every part of water. The natural
man is denominated from corruption, not an old under-
standing, or an old will, but the old man. So a rege-
nerate man is not called a new understanding, or a
new will, but a new man.

The proper seat of grace is the substance of the
soul, and therefore it influences every faculty. It is
the form whence the perfection both of understand-
ing and will does flow; it is not, therefore, placed in
either of them, but in the essence of the soul. It is
by this the union is made between God and the soul

OF REGENERATION. 105

but the union is not of one particular faculty, but of
the whole soul. He that is joined to the Lord, is one
spirit ; it is not one particular faculty that is perfected
by grace, but the substance of the soul. Besides,
that is the seat of grace which is the seat of the Spirit ;
but this or that particular faculty is not the seat of
the Holy Ghost, but the soul itself, whence the Spirit
rules every particular faculty by assisting grace, like
a monarch in the metropolis sending orders to all
parts of his dominions. The Spirit is said to dwell
in a man, in the whole man, as the soul doth in the
body, in forming every part of it ; if it dwelt only in
one faculty, there could be no spiritual motion of the
other; the principles in the will would contradict
those in the understanding ; the will would act blindly,
if there were no spiritual light in the understanding
to guide it : the light of the understanding would be
useless, if there were no inclination in the will to
follow it; and grace in both these faculties would
signify little, if there remained an opposing perversity
in the affections. The Spirit, therefore, is in the whole
soul, like fire in the whole piece of iron, quickening,
warming, mollifying, making flexible, and consuming
what is contrary: like Aaron's ointment, poured upon
the head, and thence running down to the skirts of
the soul.

Therefore there is a gracious harmony in the whole
man. As in generation two forms cannot remain in
the same subject: for in the same instant wherein the
new form is introduced, the old is cast out : so at the
first moment of infusing grace, the body of death
hath its deadly wound in every faculty, understand-
ing, will, conscience, affection. The rectitude reaches
every part ; and all the powers of the soul by a strong
combination, by one common principle of grace actu-
ating them, conspire together to be subject to the law
of God, and advance in the ways of holiness ; it is
with the whole heart that God is sought. In the
understanding there is light instead of darkness, where-

106 THE NATURE

by it yields to the wisdom of God, and searches into
the will of God ; the spirit of the mind is renewed. In
the will there is softness instead of hardness, humility
instead of pride, whereby it yields to the will of God,
and closes with the law of God. In the heart and
conscience, there is purity instead of uncleanness,
whereby it is purged from dead works, settled against
the approbation of sin, and a resolution to be void of
offence. In the affections there is love instead of
enmity, delight instead of weariness, whereby they
yield to the pleasure of God, have flights into the
bosom of God : " O, how love I thy law ! it is my
delight day and night." The memory is a repository
for the precepts and promises of God, as the choicest
treasure. It is a likeness to Christ ; the whole human
nature of Christ was holy, every faculty of his soul,
every member of his body, his nature holy, his heart
holy. If we are not so formed, Christ is not formed
in us : look therefore whether the reformation you
rest in, be in the whole, and in every part of the soul.
It is principally an inward change. It is as inward
as the soul itself. Not only a cleansing the outside
of the cup and platter, a painting over the sepulchre,
but a casting out the dead bones, and putrefied flesh ;
of a nature different from a pharisaical and hypocriti-
cal change. It is a clean heart David desires ; not
only clean hands. If it were not so, there could be
no outward rectified change. The spring and wheels
of the clock must be mended, before the hand of the
dial will stand right. It may stand right two hours
in the day, when the time of the day comes to it, but
not from any motion or rectitude in itself So a man
may seem by one or two actions to be a changed man;
but the inward spring being amiss, it is but a deceit.
Sometimes there may be a change, not in the heart,
but in the things which the heart is set upon, when
they are not what they were : as a man whose heart
was set upon uncleanness, change of beauty may
change his affections ; the change is not in the man,

OF REGENERATION. 107

but in the object. But this I change I speak of, is a
change in the mind, when there is none in the object;
as the affection of a child to his trifles changeth with
me growth of his reason, though the things his heart
was set upon remain in the same condition as before.

It is a change of principle. The principle of a
natural man in his religious actions, is artificial ; he
IS wound up to such a peg, like the spring of a machine,
by some outward respects which please him : but as
the motion of the machine ceaseth, when the spring is
down, so a natural man's motion holds no longer than
the delight those motions gave him, which first
engaged him in it. But the principle in a good man
is spirit, an internal principle; and the first motion of
this principle is towards God, to act from God, and
to act for God. He fetches his fire from heaven, to
kindle his service : a heat and fervency of spirit
precedes his serving the Lord. There may be a
serving God from an outward heat, conveying a
vigour and activity to a man; but the new creature
serves God from inward and heated aftections. Ex-
amine, therefore, by what principles do I hear, and
pray, and live, and walk 1 For all acts are good or
evil, as they savour of a good or bad root, or princi-
ple in the heart. The two principles of the new crea-
ture, are faith and love. What is called the new
creature. Gal. vi. 15, is called faith working by love,
Gal. V. 6.

The first principle of the new creature is faith.
Faith is a part of this new creature. This is the first
discovery of all spiritual life within us, and therefore
the immediate principle of all spiritual motion. A
splendid action without faith is but moral; whereas
one less glittering, is spiritual with it. The new
creature being begotten by the seed of the word, and
having thereby an evangelical frame, hath therefore
that which is the prime evangelical grace, upon
which all other graces grow; and consequently all
the acts of the new creature spring from this principle

108 THE NATURE

immediately, viz. faith in the precept, as a rule ; faith
in the promise, as an encouragement; faith in the
Mediator, as a ground of acceptance. Therefore if
we have not faith in the precept, though we may do
a service not point-blank against the precept, yet it
is not a service according to a divine rule ; if we have
not faith in the promise, we do it not upon divine
motives ; if we act not by faith in the Redeemer, we
despise the way of God's ordaining the presentation
of our service to him. All those that you find, Heb.
xi. acting from faith, had sometimes a faith in the
power of God, sometimes in the faithfulness of God ;
but they had not only a faith in the particular promise,
or precept, but it was ultimately resolved into the
promise of the Messiah to come : " These all died in
faith, not having received the promises, but having
seen them afar off," &c. ver. 13. The performance
of particular promises, they had received; but not the
performance of this grand promise; but that their
faith respected. They, as new creatures, did all in
observance of God promising the Mediator; and we
are to do all in observance of God sending the Media-
tor, being persuaded of the agreeableness of our ser-
vices to him, upon the account of the command ; and
of the acceptation of our services by him, upon the
account of the Mediator. This put a difference be-
Paul's prayer, after the infusion of grace into him,
and before ; so that our Saviour sets a particular
emphasis upon it, "Behold he prays." Acts ix. 11.
Paul, no doubt, had prayed many times before his
believing, but nothing of that kind was put upon the
file, as a prayer : before, they were prayers of a self-
righteous Pharisee, but these of an evangelical con-
vert; these were praysrs springing from obedience to
Christ, and faith in him ; from a " Lord what wilt thou
have me to do ?"

There are many principles of action, hope of
heaven, fear of hell, reputation, interest, force of na-
tural conscience, some of those are inward, some out-

OF REGK.VERATIOX. 109

ward, which are the hellows that blow up a man to
some fervency in action ; but the true fire that con-
tributes an heavenly frame to a service, is the love of
God. The desire of the heart is carried out to God ;
his heart draws near to God, because his sole delight
is in God, and his sole desire for him, " Whom have I
in heaven but thee?" Psa. Ixxiii. 25. Then verse 28,
" But it is good for me to draw near to God." This
choice affection in the new creature, inspires his ser-
vices, makes his soul spring up with a wonderful live-
liness. The new creation is the restoration of the
soul to God from its apostasy ; a casting down those
rebellious principles which contended with him, and
reducing his aftections to the right centre ; and when
all the lines meet here in one centre, in God, all the
returns to him flow from this afiection. It is but one
thing settled in the soul, as the object of its earnest
desire ; and that should be the spring of all its inqui-
ries and actions, the " beholding the beauty of the
Lord." Things may be done out of a common affec-
tion ; as when a man will raise a child fallen into the
dirt, out of a common tenderness ; but a father would
raise him with more natural affection, which is a
sphere above that common compassion. Every affec-
tion, therefore, is not the renewed principle, but a
choice affection to God. This is a mighty ingredient
in this change, and doth distinguish the new creature
from all others. One acts out of affection to God, the
other out of affection to self Man may be offended
with sin, because it disturbs his ease, health, estate,
&c. He may pray, and hear, merely out of a respect
to a natural conscience : but how can these be the
acts of the new creature, when there is no respect to
God in all this ? But a new creature would quench
the fire of corrupt self-love, to burn only with a spiri-
tual and divine flame : he depresseth the one to exalt
the other, and would be disengaged from the burden-
some chains of self-love, that he might be moved only
by the spiritual charms of the other purer affection :

10

110 THE NATURE

It is a death to him to have any steams of self-love
rise up to smoke and black a service.

This inward change is a change of end, as well as
principle. The glory of God is the end of the new
creature, self the end of the old man. Before this
new creation, a man's end was to please self; now his
end is to please God. A man that delights in know-
ledge to please his understanding, and for self-improve-
ment, when he becomes a new creature, though his
desire for knowledge is not removed, yet his end is
changed, and he thirsts after knowledge, not merely
to please his inquisitive disposition, but to admire and
praise God, and direct himself in ways agreeable to
him. As the end of the sensualist is to taste the sweet-
ness in pleasure, so the end of a renewed man is to
know more of God, to taste a sweetness in him, and
in every religious duty. This is the distinguishing
character of the new creature. This design for the
glory of God was not to be found among any of the
heathen, who were so great admirers of virtue. Most
of them intended only an acquiring a reputation
among their countrymen ; and though some of them
might esteem virtue for its native dignity, yet this was
to esteem it by the moiety of it, when they referred it
not to the honour of God, from whence it flowed to
the world. Man was not created for himself, and to
be his own end. He therefore that chiefly aims at his
own satisfaction in any thing, is not a new creature ;
he hath his old deformed end into which he sunk by
the fall. But grace carries a man higher, and re-
duceth all to God, and to his well-pleasing. The
apostle desires they may be " filled with the know-
ledge of the will of God, that they may walk worthy
of the Lord, unto all well pleasing." Col. i. 9, 10. The
very first motion of this new principle is towards God,
to act for God. As the first appearance of a living
seed in the ground, is towards heaven; thither it casts
its look, from whence its life came. What the new
creature receives is from God. "Thev received it as

OF REGENERATION. Ill

the word of God." 1 Thess. ii. 13. And therefore
what he doth is for God.

The principal intent of God in the new creation is
for himself, " I will sow her to me ;" Hos. ii. 23,
speaking of the church in the time of the gospel : not
to sin, not to the world, not for herself, but I will sow
her to me. Husbandmen sow the ground for them-
selves, for their own use, to reap the harvest; and the
corn grows up to the husbandmen that sowed it.
What the seed doth naturally, the new creature doth
intentionally, grow up for God. Since the new crea-
ture is a divine infusion, it must needs carry the soul
to please God, and aim at his glory. God would
never put a principle into the creature, to drive it
from himself, and conduct it to his own dishonour;
this consists not with God's righteousness, this would
be a deceiving of the creature. It is impossible, but
that which is from God in so peculiar a manner, and
with gracious intentions to restore the creature to his
happiness, must tend to the advancement of God.
Where there are no aims at the divine glory, there is
no divine nature, nothing in the soul that can claim
kindred with God. Regeneration is a forming the
soul for God himself, and to show forth his praise.
Hence they are said to be a peculiar people, in respect
of their end as well as their state. Certainly that man
who makes not God his pattern, and his end, that doth
not advance the praise and glory of God, was never
new formed by him. What comes from God must
naturally tend to him. Is it possible, that the living
image of God should disgrace the original ? That a
divine impression should be unconcerned in the divine
honour?

The new creation is an evangelical impression, and
therefore corresponds in its intention with the gospel.
This is the instrument whereby the creature was
wrought ; and this was appointed and published for
the glory of God ; " Glory to God in the highest." It
is to promote holiness in the creature, which is the

11^

THE NATURE

only way whereby we can honour God : this is the

f)rime lesson the grace or gospel of God teaches, " to
ive godly," to live to God. What therefore is pro-
duced by the efficacy of such an instrument, cannot
but aim at the glory of God, which was intended in
it : otherwise the gospel would work an eflect con-
trary to itself, which no instrument dolh produce,
when managed by a wise agent, and contrary to the
end of the agent, viz. the Spirit of God, whose end is
to glorify Christ, " He shall glorify me," John xvi. 14.
The frame and acts of a renewed man, are like the
grain, or seed of the word sown in the heart. Nothing
the gospel designs more than the laying self low, even
as low as dust and death. The first lesson is self-
denial. It is in self that the strength and heart of the
body of sin and lust lie : and it is the principal end of
the gospel, to bring the creature to sacrifice self-love
to righteousness, self-interest, self-contentment, wholly
to God and his law, and his love, that God may be all
in all in the creature. Before the heart was touched
with the gospel, it had not the least impulse to bring
forth the virtues and excellencies of God into the
world ; but when it is changed, it is filled to the brim
with zealous desires to have his name exalted upon a
high throne among men.

A new creation is the bringing forth the soul in a
likeness to God. The end therefore of the new crea-
ture is the glory of God. As God is the cause, so he
is the pattern of the new creature, according to which
he doth frame the soul ; it is " after God, created in
righteousness," &c. Eph. iv. 24. There can be no
likeness to God, where the creature dissents from
him in the chief end. Without such an agreement,
there can be nothing but variance between God and
the creature. All the commotions and quarrels upon
earth, are founded upon the difference of ends. God
aims at his own glory, so doth the new creature :
otherwise it were impossible he should walk with
God, or follow him, as a dear child. It consists also

OP REGENERATION.

113

in a likeness to Christ; his resurrection is the pattern,
and cause of our regeneration ; " Ye are risen with
Christ." What, to contrary ends ? Did Christ rise
only to live to himself? No; but to live to God, as
the great end for which he was appointed Mediator.
Did he design to glorify God on earth, and doth he
live to dishonour God in heaven '? No, he lives to
the same end there for which he lived and died here.
Our spiritual resurrection is not only a restoring us
to a spiritual life, but to the ends of this life, a living
to God and Christ, and to the ends of his mediation.
Surely the new creature cannot be so brutish, as not
to mind the honour of that nature, to which it is so
nearly allied, the glory of that God unto whom it hath
the honour to bear a resemblance. A new creature
hath a mighty sprightliness, and a height of spirit in
some measure, when any thing in his hands concerns
God, more than when it concerns himself; for his
will being framed according to the will of God, is
filled with an ambition for promoting the excellency
of his name.

The end of the new creation is to advance the soul.
It can never be advanced by an end lower than itself,
or equal to itself. Any interest, lower than God,
would be a degrading of it, a disparagement to its
state, and too sordid for the soul to drive at ; for it is
the excellency, or sordidness of the end, which doth
elevate or debase a man's spirit, and his action also ;
the one enlargeth, the other shrivels up the soul in its
operation. All things below God are unworthy of
a soul rectified by a new creation. The soul is only
perfected in a tendency to this end, and disgraced and
lost in the impurity of lower aims. That grace that
is most durable, and doth most ennoble the spirit of
a man, has this property, that it seeks not her own,
nor vaunts itself.

It is impossible the soul can have this new creation,
without a change of end. It is not conceivable how
any thing can return to that, which it doth not eye as
10*

114 THE NATURE

its end. The soul, as deriving its original from God,
hath an obligation in all its nnotions to return to him,
as its chief end. The new creature hath an higher
obligation by grace. Doth that therefore deserve the
name ©f the new creature, that is so far from answer-
ing a gracious tie, that it doth not so much as answer
a natural one ? That is yet below the sphere of inani-
mate creatures, who all run back to their fountain,
and one way or other, declare the glory of God. He
is no new creature therefore, who is devotedly fawn-
ing upon himself, caressing himself: he is one that
is yet bemired in his old nature, and hath not yet
received of the fruit of Christ's purchase, redeeming
and renewing grace. Those that are under the effica-
cious influence of it, and are the temple of the Holy
Spirit, do glorify God in their body and spirit too,
inwardly as well as outwardly, because they are God's.
The understanding and will are both elevated by
grace. The more intelligent any creature is, the
more noble is his end, or ought to be; and the more
he doth intend his end. The aim of a man is higher
than that of a child : the aims of men in this or that
station, are still more noble than the ends of men in
a lower rank. Since the new creation therefore
endues man with the most excellent nature he is
capable of, it must fix a man upon the most excellent
end, which is God and his glory; it were not else a
new creature, or worthy of such a title.

This change of end only fits the soul for its proper
service. From this end arises a quickness, and an
heartiness in every service. When God and his glory
are not our end, our hearts flag, and we feel our spirits
tired at our entrance into any service for him. When
the apostle had made the glory of God his end, in tes-
tifying the gospel of the grace of God, then his life
was not counted dear to him, that he might finish his
course with joy. Where this end sits uppermost in
the heart, all allurements to the contrary are mightily
despised. What a scornful eye doth the apostle cast

OF REGENERATION. 116

upon all oilier things ; and sets no higher value upon
them than he would upon dross and dung, when they
were not conducing to his main end, which was the
knowledge of Christ.

Well then ; this is one of the most essential pro-
perties of the new creature, and that which is the
clearest discovery of this state. A new creature is
as earnest in secret, for the glory of God, and as
industrious for God, as if the eyes of all the world
were upon him ; the bent of his heart always stands
this way; he glorifies God in his spirit as well as
body. When men will be zealous in things that con-
cern God, before men, and negligent in their spirits,
and inward part of the soul, then the glory of God
was not their end, but themselves. For what is a
man's end, sets an edge upon his spirit in private, as
well as public. But a new creature is of another
frame. When he finds that he hath missed of his full
aim, and hath not had that single respect as he ought,
he is unsatisfied, and troubled that God hath been no
more glorified by him. But he that is not renewed,
is well pleased, if any concerns of self have been
advanced, though God be not glorified; and his soul
is at rest in that act, as it hath lived to himself, and
brought in something to increase the treasure of his
selfish ends.

As it is an inward change, in respect of principle
and end ; so it is a change of thoughts. Being new,
he is new in the choicest faculty. As when he was
after the flesh, he minded the things of the flesh ; so
now being after the Spirit, he minds the things of the
Spirit. As a child hath not the thoughts of a man, so
neither hath a natural man the thoughts of a new
creature. A principle is placed in his understanding
which doth emit other beams difl^erent from that
smoky light, which was in it before. Though a new
creature cannot hinder the first motions, yet he endea-
vours to suppress their proceeding any further, and
excites others in his heart, to make head against them ;

iitr

THE NATURE

and would, as far as he could, hinder the rising of anv
wave, the least bubbling against right reason and the
interest of God. When David had an inclination in
his heart to God's statutes, the immediate effect of it
is to hate vain thoughts. " I have inclined my heart
to perform thy statutes :" and it follows, " I hate vain
thoughts," Psa. cxix. 112, 113. The vanity of his
heart was a burden to him, and he loathed all the in-
ward excrescences and buds from that bitter stump
he still bore within him. A new creature is as care-
ful against wickedness in the head or heart, as in the
life. He would be purer in the sight of God, than in
the view of men : he knows none but God can see the
workings of his heart, or the thoughts of his head; yet
he is as careful that they should not rise up, as that
they should not break out. The soul is so changed,
that it is no longer a stranger, and an enemy to the
motions of the Spirit; it will welcome them upon their
entrance, conduct them into the innermost room, con-
verse familiarly with them, and delight in their com-
pany; it invites their stay, pursues them when they
seem to depart, holds them fast, and will not let them
go, as the church doth to Christ. He turns much in
upon himself, sets his eye upon his own heart, keeps
that with all diligence, to observe what issues of a
spiritual life are there ; as it is directed, " Keep thy
heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of
life," Prov. iv. 23. If he perceives any weeds to spring
up there, or mushrooms, as they often will in a night,
he cuts them up. and throws them out. The under-
standing is more quick and sensible, to discern them
in the first risings, to receive good ones, or check bad
ones, than it was before ; the new creature is sensi-
ble of any touch contrary to its interest. A corrupt
mind draws to it the vilest things, and unproportion-
able to the true nature of the soul, till by new crea-
tion it be set higher, and by a sanctified reason be-
comes more choice about its objects ; and then like
David, the heart is filled as with marrow and fatness,

OF REGENERATION.

117

when he meditates on God in the night-watches. The
thoughts of God are an inward spring of pleasure to
him, more than the thoughts of sin can be to a de-
formed and depraved soul.

Change of comforts follows upon this. Since there
is a change of nature, there is a change of his com-
placency. The former nature is his trouble, there-
fore all his delights which arise from it, are its dis-
contents and burden. Every nature hath a peculiar
pleasure belonging to it : the nature of a dove will not
acquiesce in that which pleases a swine ; nor the new
nature in that which pleased the old. The comforts
of manhood are of another make than those of a
child ; and the comforts of a prince more elevated
than those of a pleasant, because he hath another
spirit. That Spirit who is appointed to renew him, is
appointed an officer to comfort him : as therefore he
gives him new principles, so he gives him new con-
solations. He is, as a comforter, to glorify Christ ; to
receive of his, and show it unto the new creature.
They are Christ's own words, " He shall glorify me,
for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto
you," being described before under the title of a com-
forter. He shall receive of mine, grace from me,
suitable to the grace in me, wherewith to beautify ;
and comforts from me, suitable to those comforts in
me, wherewith to refresh you. As they are brought
to live the life of God in holiness, so they are brought
to live the life of God in joy and comfort. Righteous-
ness, peace, joy, are the trinity which make up the
kingdom of God in the heart, " The kingdom of God
is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace,
and joy in the Holy Ghost," Rom. xiv. 17. As the
grace of God is their life, so the joy of the Lord is
their strength. Strangers to God intermeddle not
with it, and have no share in it. There is a joy put
inti the heart, together with this new creature ; "Thou
hast put gladness into my heart." A gladness not
founded upon any worldly consideration, as the joy

118

THE NATURE

of men, not a joy of their own putting in ; but the new
creature's joy, is a joy of God's putting in. Other
mens' comforts are in the creature ; the new creature's
comforts in the Creator. Others cannot joy, if worldly
things be removed, because the foundation of their
joy is without them. But these by the loss of worldly
things, have their comforts rather increased than im-
paired, because the foundation of their joy is within
them. The comforts of a natural man are derived
from broken cisterns. The comforts of a new crea-
ture are derived from the full fountain of life, which
makes their very sufferings gloriously comfortable to
them. The prodigal by his change of mind, had a
change of refreshment, robes for rags, and a fatted
calf for husks. It is as much his comfort to loathe
himself, as derived from Adam, and to love the self
implanted by God, as it was before the contrary. He
can never look upon the new creature in him, but
with delightful views ; and a pleasure mingles itself
with every cast of his eye upon it. For certainly
from making God our end, and doing all things for
his glory, flows the highest delight : since God is the
only happiness of that soul that is in conjunction with
him, as his main end, he must needs have a share in
the happiness of God as well as his nature. Felicity
and consolation follow it, as the shadow doth the body;
and every act of the new creature towards God, is
edged with comfort in the very acting.

As it is an inward change, so it is also an outward
change. I call it outward, in regard of objects, in re-
gard of operations : though it is principally inward,
in regard of the prime seat of it ; in regard of the form
which causeth the outward. The power of seeing is
in the soul, though the vision itself be in the eye.
The change our Saviour made in those he cured, was
in the organ, when he made the blind to see, the deaf
to hear, and the lame to walk, which did necessarily
infer a change of objects, and a change of actions.
So a man by this new creation sees the things of God,

OF REGENERATION. 119

hears the voice of God, walks in the ways of God.
All outward changes argue not an inward ; but an
inward is always attended with an outward.

In regard of objects. The world and sin were
before the objects of his inquiries and endeavours : now
he seeks the face of God, " his soul follows hard after
him." The world and God are so contrary, that the
love of the one is enmity to the other. From multi-
tudes of objects which distracted him, he is come to
unity, which quiets and settles him. "One thing have
I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may
dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his
temple." Psa. xxvii. 4. It is no lower an object than
this that the soul is conversant about, about God him-
self, to embrace him ; about what hath most of God in
it, to value and cherish it ; about the word of God, to
direct him in his ways, and to do his work. The
understanding is conversant about the things of God,
in the apprehension of them ; the will in the election,
the affections in complacency in them. Spiritual ob-
jects are set up by every faculty, as the delightful
things which it heartily embraceth. Before a man had
no affection to God, you might as well have persuaded
a swine to love the music of a lute, as a natural man
supremely to God. All his desires were set upon the
dross of the world, the customs, course, corruptions,
pleasures of the world : but a truly regenerate man
can as little make the world his chief object of desire
and affection, as a man used to choice viands can feed
upon chaff and husks. The design of the gospel is to
set forth God in Christ, as an amiable object, as infi-
nitely glorious. It declaims against the world, to
draw men from the affectionate considerations of it.
The renewed work then doth consist in fixing upon
God in Christ, as the main object of desire and affec-
tion. When the heart therefore complies with the
gospel, there must be a compliance with the chief sub-
ject of the gospel, and in such a manner as may

120

THE i\.ATTinK

answer the intendment of the gospel. While Paul
was in his natural and pharisaical state, Christ and
his truth was accounted as dung, trampled upon as
dross, fit to be thrown out of the converse of mankind :
but when his heart is changed, there is a change in
the object of his valuation ; Christ is then his treasure,
his all ; and other things but dross, in comparison of
him.

In regard of operations. Old things are passed
away, old actions as well as old affections. Opera-
tions are never constantly against nature ; the heart
and the actions do not always contradict one another.
According to the abundance of the heart, the mouth
speaks. According to the spring of grace in the
heart, will the hand of the life stand. It will vent it-
self more or less, according to the quantity of it. It
is an inward baptism with fire, which will quickly
break out, and show itself in the members, " By their
fruits ye shall know them," Matt. vii. 20. New ap-
prehensions infer new operations. An alteration of
judgment cannot be without an alteration of acting.
As he hath received Christ Jesus the Lord, so he
walks in him. The very design of God in the new
creation was this, ** Created in Christ Jesus unto good
works, which God hath before ordained, that we
should walk in them," Ephes. ii. 10. H there be not
then new works, there is no new creation, for the
chief intention and aim of God cannot be frustrated.
Christ formed in a man is not a sleepy and inactive
being ; actions will scent of him. Fruits bear the
image of the root whence they spring, and upon which
they flourish. A new root cannot bring forth old
fruits : if the nature of a crab tree, be changed into
that of a vine, it will bear no longer crabs but grapes.
Where holiness is implanted in the nature, holiness
will be imprinted in the life. A man that hath reason
superior to sense, doth use his sense rationally : a re-
newed man that hath grace superior to reason, useth
his reason graciously. The operations were rational

OF REGENERATION. 121

when bare reason held the sceptre; but they are spiri-
tual, when grace ascends the throne. For it cannot
be, that that person who is actuated by the Spirit, lives
in the Spirit, walks in the Spirit, should do any thing
without a spiritual tincture, in that wherein he is ac-
tuated by it. For it is impossible, but every action
must be dyed of the same colour with the principle
whence it flow^s, and by which it is directed. Actions
of sensitive nature are, by reason of grace, directed
ty a new rule, directed to a new end. He ate and
drank to the flesh before, now to God. He degraded
his soul to invent ways to pamper his body : now he
puts his body in its due posture, to serve the soul, and
both to exalt God. Yea, his religious duties are
changed, not as to the matter, but the manner. He
knew them before, as he did Christ, after the flesh; he
now knows them, and performs them after the Spirit.
There is zeal instead of coldness, hveliness instead of
deadness, brokenness instead of presumption, a spirit
of liberty instead of the whip of conscience, confidence
in God instead of confidence in duty, melting pleading
of promises instead of a pharisaical pleading of works ;
in a word, grace instead of nature, spirit instead of
flesh. Paul of a pharisaical boaster, becomes a Chris-
tian suppliant ; " behold he prays." This change is
outward as well as inward : in a man of an exact
morality it is chiefly inward ; he walks in his old ouV-
ward ways with a new heart; in a loose man renewed,
it is apparently outward ; he hath left both his old
ways and his old nature : but a man only outwardly
reformed, without any inward change, walks in new
ways with an old spirit. "He that lacks these things,"
saiih the apostle, after an enumeration of several
graces, " hath forgotten that he was purged from his
old sins ;" for indeed he never was.

11

122 THE NATURE

CHAPTER III.

Regeneration considered as a vital principle —As a Habit —The
renewed nature is disposed to every good work in disposition
and activity —It is naturally, voluntarily, fervently, unbound-
edly, powerfully, easily, pleasantly active. Power of grace in
the regenerate renders it difficult for them to sin.

Having considered this new creation in the nature of
a change,

Let us consider it in the nature of a vital principle.
This new creation is a translation from death to life,
"We know that we have passed from death to life,"
1 John iii. 14. And we have not a spiritual life, till
we are in Christ ; " he that hath not the Son, hath not
life." When our Saviour called Lazarus out of the
grave, he gave him a principle of life and motion; the
same he doth when he calls men from a spiritual death
in sin : whatsoever we had from the first Adam is
mortal ; whatsoever we have from the second Adam
is vital ; the one communicates a spiritual life, as the
other propagated a spiritual death. The new creature
is a vital, powerful principle, naturally moving the
soul to the service and obedience of God, and doth
animate the faculties in their several motions, as the
soul doth quicken the members of the body. It is
called the hidden man, the inward man, implying that
it hath life and motion. As the life of the body is
from the soul, as the effect from the cause, so the life
of the soul is from grace ; Christ is the meritorious
cause of this life in his person ; the efficient cause of
it by his Spirit ; but grace is the formal cause of this
life : as God is the cause of our bodily life efficiently,
and the soul the cause of it formally. It is not then
a gilding, but a quickening; not a carving, but an
enlivening. Whatsoever doth proceed from an ex-
ternal cause, is not life or a living motion. A piece
of wood may be carved into the shape of a man, but

OF REGENERATION. 123

remains wood still, in such a form and figure. But a
Christian hath a spiritual life breathed into him, as
Adam had a natural. When Adam's body was formed
of the earth, it was no more than earth, till a heavenly
spark was breathed into him by God, to set him upon
his feet, and enable that piece of earth to move. It is
distinguished therefore from hypocrisy, which is but
the shadow of Christianity ; this is a living principle;
that a form, this a power; that a piece of art, this a
nature. A picture may have the lineaments of a man,
but not the life, understanding, and affections of a
man.

Let us consider it as a habit, and then see what
light the consideration of it, as a vital principle and a
habit, gives us into the nature of this new creation.
By habit we must not understand, as we do in
common speech, a clothing ; as when we say, such a
one was in such a habit ; but by habit we mean an
inward frame, enabling a man to act readily and
easily ; as when an artificer hath the habit of a trade.
Since this new creation is not a destruction of the
substance of the soul; but that there is the same
physical being, and the same faculties in all men, and
nothing is changed in its substance, as far as respects
the nature of man : it is necessary therefore that this
new creation consist in gracious qualities and habits,
which beautify and dispose the soul to act righteously
and holily. Corruption of nature is the poison, the
sickness, and deformity of our nature ; grace is the
beauty, health, ornament of it, and that which gives it
worth and value. When a debauched man is become
virtuous, we say, he is another man, a new man,
though he hath the same soul and body which he had
before, but he hath quitted those evil habits wherewith
he was possessed. It is impossible to conceive a new
creature without new habits: nothing can be changed
from a state of corruption to a state of purity, with-
out them. The making darkness to become hght, in
the very nature of it, implies the introducing a new

124

THE NATURE

quality. This is meant by the seed, " His seed re-
mains in him," 1 John iii. 9 ; as seed makes the earth
capable to bring forth good fruit, which had a nature
before to bring forth, not corn, but weeds, till the
grain was put into it : and it is expressed by " a foun-
tain of living water springing up into eternal life,"
John iv. 44.

There is such a habit. God doth provide as much
for those that he loves, in order to a supernatural
good, as for those creatures that he loves in order to
a natural good : but God hath put into all creatures
such forms and qualities, whereby they may be in-
clined of themselves to motions agreeable to their
nature, in an easy and natural way. Much more doth
God infuse into those that he moves to the obtaining
a supernatural good, some spiritual qualities, whereby
they may be moved rationally, sweetly, and readily to
attain that good : he puts into the soul a spirit of love,
a spirit of grace, whereby as their understandings are
possessed with a knowledge of the excellency of his
ways, so their wills are so seasoned by the power and
sweetness of this habit, that they cannot, because they
will not, act contrary thereunto. And this habit of
grace hath the same spiritual force in a gracious way,
as these principles in other creatures in a natural way.
As the habit of sin is called flesh, in regard of its
nature, and death in regard of its consequence, so the
habit of grace is called the new creature and spirit, in
regard of its term and consequent life. This habitual
grace is the principle of all supernatural acts, as the
soul concurs as an immanent principle to all works by
this or that faculty. As Christ had a body prepared
him, to do the work of a Mediator, so the soul hath a
habit prepared it to do the work of a new creature.
To this purpose there is a habit of truth or sincerity
in the will, and a hidden wisdom in the understanding.
As the corrupt nature is a habit of sin, so the new
nature is a habit of grace ; God doth not only call us
to believe, love, and obey, but brings in the grace of

OP REGENERATION. 125

faith, and love, and obedience, bound up together, and
plants it in the soil of the heart; to grow up there unto
eternal life : he gives a willingness and readiness to
believe, love, and obey.

This habit is necessary. The acts of a Christian are
supernatural, which cannot be done without a super-
natural principle ; we can no more do a gracious
action without it, than the apostles could do the works
of their office, unless endued with power from above,
which our Saviour bids them tarry at Jerusalem for.
If there were not a gracious habit in the soul, no act
could be gracious; or supposing it could, it could not
be natural, it would be only a force. New creation
is not from the Spirit compelling, but inclining; not
like the throwing a stone contrary to its nature, but
changing the nature, and planting other habits whereby
the actions become natural. As sin was habitual in a
man by nature, so grace must be habitual in a new
creature, otherwise a man is not brought into a con-
trary state (though the acts should be contrary) if
there be not a contrary habit ; for it is necessary the
soul should be inclined in the same manner towards
God as before it was towards sin; but the inclination
to sin was habitual.

This habit is but one. For it is an entire rectitude
in all the faculties, and an universal principle of work-
ing righteously. As the corrupt nature is called the
old Adam, and a body of death ; the gracious nature
is called the new man, as a man is but one man, a
body one body, though consisting of divers members
and several parts, all formed by one Spirit, and making
up but one habit, so that as all sins are parts of that
body of death; so all graces are but branches of this
one root ; as from that original light, kindled at the
first creation by God, were framed the stars and lights
of heaven, which have their several appearances and
motions, and are distinct from one another, though all
arising from the womb of that first light ; so all parti-
cular graces, though they have their stated seasons of
11*

185

THE NATURE

action, and are distinct in themselves, yet all flow from,
and are contained in this habit as in a root. They
are so many grapes growing upon one stalk, clusters
proceeding from one root of the new nature. It is
from the participation of the divine nature, that all
those graces arise, the exercise of which the apostle
exhorts them to, 2 Pet. i. 4, &c. And indeed it being
a divine nature, must needs include all the perfections
due to it : as the divine essence of God is one, yet
contains all perfections immanently ; and if there were
a deficiency of any, it could not be the divine essence;
so the grace infused into the heart contains in it
virtually all the perfections wherein it may agree with
the nature of God's holiness, otherwise it were not a
divine nature ; if there were any defect in the nature
of the habit, I say in the nature of the habit. And it
cannot be otherwise, for though the Spirit may give
one gift to one man, another gift to another, yet when
he would make a new creature, there must be a nature
or habit containing all graces. It could not else be a
divine nature, for if the Spirit doth purpose to make a
new creature, he cannot but give all grace, which be-
longs to the essence and constitution of that new crea-
ture, otherwise he would either wilfully or weakly
cross his own intention.

This habit receives various denominations;

From the subject. It is subjectively in the essence
of the soul ; but as it shows itself in the understanding,
it is called the knowledge of God; as it is in the will,
it is a choice of God ; as it is in the affections, it is
a motion to God ; as the body of death is in the under-
standing, ignorance; in the will, enmity; in the con-
science, deadness ; in the affections, disorder and
forwardness. As diseases receive several names, as
they are centered in several parts, yet are but the
distemper of the humours.

From the object. As it closes with Christ dying, it
is faith ; as it rejoiceth in Christ hving, it is love ; as
»t lies at the feet of Christ, it is humility; as it observes

OF REGENERATION. 127

the will of Christ, it is obedience ; as it submits to
Christ afflicting, it is patience ; as it regards Christ
offended, it is grief; yet all arising from one habit and
animated by faith ; so that it is the love of faith, the
joy of faith, the humility of faith, the patience of faith ;
they all spring from one habit, seated in one soul, con-
versant about one object, God in Christ; such an unity
there is in all these diversities. As the holy oil where-
with the vessels of the tab rnacle were anointed, was
but one ointment, though composed of many ingredi-
ents; as all the perfections of creatures are immanently
in one God ; all the evil dispositions of the creatures
seminally in man by nature ; so all the beauties of
grace are immanently included in this habit.

Hence we may take a prospect of the nature of the
new creature. Jt being thus a vital principle, and a
habit, therefore the motion to God, and for God,
must be

Ready, in respect to disposition. He stands ready
and disposed to every good work, upon God's call.
As the habit of sin disposeth the soul to every evil
work, so the habit of grace prepares it for every good
work, and makes it meet for its master's use, " If a
man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a
vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the
master's use, and prepared unto every good work,'*
2 Tim. ii. 21. It is just as it was with Isaiah; at the
first sight of the vision he complains, "Woe is me! I
am a man of unclean lips," chap. vi. 5 ; taken up with
self-reliection ; no ofiers to act for God : but when a
live coal was taken from the altar, and laid upon his
mouth; there is a ready answer to God's question,
" Whom shall I send ? Here am I, send me," verse
7, 8. No demurs; it was a live coal from the altar
had quickened him into a new frame for God. David
duth no', say, he had performed the statutes of God,
but he had inclined his heart to perform them.

That I may not grate upon any troubled spirit; con-
sider, that this readiness is seminally in every re-

128

THE NATURE

newed person, yet it does not always actually appear.
As tfie old nature contains in it seminally all sins,
yet every nnan is more prone to one than another,
according to education, temper of body, or a set of
temptations ; so the heart of a renewed man hath an
habitual disposition to the exercise of all grace be-
cause it hath the seeds of all graces in it; yet it doth
not act all ahke, for want of vigorous occasions. As
the attributes of God, though in the highest perfection,
yet in their exercise in the world, sometimes one ap-
pears more triumphant than another, sometimes more
of patience, sometimes mercy, sometimes justice, some-
times wisdom, one is more eminently apparent than
another: so the divine nature halh seminally in this
habit all grace, and an agreeableness to every duty
enjoined; a principle to send forth the fruits of all,
when an object is offered, and the grace excited by
the Spirit of God; yet sometimes one is more visible
than another, according to the call it hath to stand
forth and show itself. This habitual disposition may
be, when there is not a present actual fitness for some
service of a higher strain, by reason of some particu-
lar commission of sin, which hath sullied the soul. As
a vessel of honour in respect of its formation, may be
fit for use ; but in respect of some foulness contracted,
may not be immediately fit for some noble service, till
a new scouring hath passed upon it. A grown Chris-
tian who hath his senses exercised in the ways of God,
doth not always actually exercise this habit ; yet he is
ready upon the least motion actually to do it: as a
new creature having a change of end, doth habitually
mind the glory of God, yet he doth not in every action
actually think of it, or will it as his end : but he is
ready to bring this habitual aim into exercise upon
the least motion, and reaches out his arm to embrace
and stand right to that point. David had an habit of
repentance in him, while he lay asleep in his sin ; and
by virtue of this habit, he doth without any resistance
comply with the first touch God gave him by Nathan.

OF REGENERATION. 129

His repentance flowed, and never ceased, till it had
done its perfect work. It was a sign of a heart of
flesh; a heart of stone could not have been so flexible.
Job was eminent for patience ; but being a new crea-
ture, he had a disposition to all the rest, and had acted
them with as high a strain, had he had the same occa-
sions.

This readiness to every service doth not actually
appear in persons newly regenerate. I think the
lowest degree of this habit in one newly regenerate,
is a purpose of heart to cleave unto the Lord " When
he came, and had seen the grace of God, he was glad,
and exhorted them, that with purpose of heart they
w ould cleave unto the Lord." Acts xi. 23. Certainly
when there is such a fixed and constant purpose, it is
a token of the grace of God : yet to this purpose there
may not always be connected an actual readiness to
every service : for at the first beginning of the new
creature there is a strong resistance ; it is in a strange
soil ; the armies of hell are in array against it ; it is
like a Daniel in a lion's den, or a Lot in Sodom, only
God restrains the force of these enemies. As it is in
a child derived from Adam, there is a principle in the
natural corruption to exert all kind of wickedness ; yet
it doth not presently rise to the utmost of its force,
till ripened by time and other intervening causes : so
though the new creature hath in it a readiness virtually
to the most raised action, to be as believing and labori-
ous as Paul, as zealous as Elijah, as patient as Job,
yet it mounts not presently to this state ; a time must
be allowed for growth. There is an infancy in grace,
as well as in manhood. And as a child, though his
soul be of the same nature with that of a man, yet he
cannot exercise those acts of understanding and rea-
son, because of the predominancy of sense, and the
indisposition of the organs : so neither can a young
Christian : he may have a disposition equal to the
best Christians, but not an equal strength ; the reluc-
tance of the corrupt habit is more vigorous, not being

130 THE NATURE

much mortified ; he wants also that additional strength
gained by exercise. There may be a greater resist-
ance to one grace, than to another, from the strength
of some corruption particularly opposite to that grace;
yet " to will is present with him ; though he cannot
perform that which is good," Rom. vii. 18. The pos-
ture of the soul to God, was as natural to him, as the
posture of the heart was before to sin. As a young
boy first come to school, may have as strong a pur-
pose to get learning, as a man that hath taken all his
degrees in the University. The first graces which
appear in a renewed soul, are repentance and faith ;
because regeneration being a rooting up from the old
stock, and setting up a new, as it relates to the old
stock, it doth necessarily produce repentance upon the
sight of his misery, and for being upon the old stock
so long ; and faith, as a necessary grace for closing
with the Redeemer upon a sight of him, and for in-
grafting him upon a new stock, And then love,
admiration and thankfulness walk the stage, from a
reflection upon the greatness of the misery escaped,
and the great deliverance attained. Sprouts from a
root grow up some faster, some slower ; yet all arising
from the same root. So some graces appear at the
very first setting this habit in the soul, other graces
lie hid till new occasions draw them out. This dis-
position, inclination, will, readiness, purpose, is the
first language of a habit.

A second thing wherein you have a prospect of the
new creature is this ; as it is ready in respect of dis-
position, so it is in activity of motion. Since it is a
life infused by infinite activity; since it is a habit
bearing the impression of God, and maintained by a
union with him, it is impossible it can be sleepy and
dull in a constant way. All life hath motion proper
to the principle of it. Rational life is attended with
rational actions ; sensitive life, with acts proper to
seise. It is as impossible then that a spiritual life
should be without acts consonant to it, as that the sun

OF REGENERATION. 131

should appear in the firmament without darting forth
its beams. All life is accompanied with natural heat,
which is the band of it, whereby the body is enabled
to a vigorous motion. The new creature is not a
marble statue, or a transparent piece of crystal, which
hath purity, but not life. It is a living spirit, and
therefore active ; a pure spirit, and therefore purely
active, according to the degree of it. It is the same
habit in part renewed, which Adam had by creation,
which was not a slugglish and unwieldy principle ; it
must therefore have an activity, it could not else be a
proper principle to contest with the contrary principle,
which is active like the sea, casting out mire and dirt.
Since the old Adam conveyed such a vigorous princi-
ple of corruption, the new Adam is not wanting to
endue the principle of his conveyance with a suitable
activity. Grace abounds in its vigour, as well as sin
hath abounded in its kind. Upon Christ's call, Mat-
thew left his receipt of custom, the other apostles
their nets ; motion presently follows an enlivening
call of God. It is first a habit, then an act ; first a
spirit of grace and supplication, then a " looking upon
him whom they have pierced," by an act of their un-
derstanding, and a mourning by an act of the will.
First a sanctification of the spirit, then a belief of the
truth to the obtaining of glory. When any thing
ceaseth to act, there is either an oppression, or a death
of nature.

This principle of the new creature is naturally
active. All vital motions are natural. Sometimes in
men there are natural actions without any actual
exercise of reason ; as when the spirits flow out to any
part for the defence of it upon the motion of any pas-
sion, as blood starts to the face upon shame, which all
the reason of a man cannot hinder. It is as natural
to this new habit to produce new actions, as for any
thing to engender according to its own likeness and
species ; as for a living tree to spring out in leaves and

132 THE NATURE

fruits. A renewed man, whose seed is within himself,
brings forth fruit after his kind, as well as the herbs
and the trees. All living creatures move agreeably to
their natures, with a willingness and freedom of nature.
The bramble doth not more naturally bring forth
thorns, than a habit of sin doth steam out sinful
actions ; nor a fountain more freely bubble up its w ater,
than a habit of grace springs up in holy actions. For
shall the workmanship of God be more unapt to the
proper end of it, than the workmanship of the devil,
since good works are the end of God's new creating
us, that we should walk in them ? Walking is a natu-
ral motion, "We are his workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus to good works." Eph. ii. 10. A well-
dressed vine doth not more naturally bring forth grapes,
than a soul rooted in Christ doth the fruits of the
Spirit ; neither doth the sun more naturally enlighten
the world with its beams, than the new creature shoots
forth its desires and affections to God; for it is impos-
sible but this habit should tend to him, since it is
planted by him. The new creature's services are his
meat and drink, not his work ; it is as natural to him
to do it, as for a creature to desire and take its proper
food ; you need not hire a child to suck, by the pro-
mises of fine things, it will naturally, without imita-
tion, take the breast. The new creature having a
righteous and just nature, cannot but do righteous
things; nothing can act against its nature, while nature
is orderly and not disturbed by some disease or frenzy.
As God, whose image a regenerate man bears, cannot
but do good, because his nature is goodness. *' How
can you that are dead to sin, live any longer therein V'
Rom. vi. 2. He can no more naturally do it, than a
dead man can walk. Not but that there are some
mistakes sometimes, which proceed not from nature,
but from some obstructing humour. Nature doth not
err in its right course, unless hindered by some adver-
sary : the errors renewed men are subject to, proceed

OF REGENERATION. 133

not from the regenerate principle in them, but from
that remainder of corruption, which by degrees is
weakened by the other, and at last wholly put off'.

It is voluntarily active. There is a kind of natural
necessity of motion, from life and habit, yet also a
voluntary choice ; it is a power which constrains and
inclines the will. The Apostle tells us, there was a
necessity laid upon him to preach the gospel, yet it
was not a compulsion, but a voluntary act, after his
will was changed. The new creature is not constrained
from without, but flows freely, is not forced; the chief
work is upon the will ; the proper effect of any work
upon the will is voluntariness; the Spirit works to
make it willing, its motion then is not by compulsion:
there is a sweet necessity of the new nature, and a
gracious choice of will, which meet together, and kiss
each other. How freely doth the soul, winged with
grace, move to and for God, as a bird in the air !
With what a free and ready spirit doth the new crea-
ture go to prayer, reading and hearing ! How freely
doth it breathe in the air of heaven ! Not spurred by
outward interest, or dragged by the threatenings of the
law, nor chid to it by the clamours of conscience, but
gently moved to it, and upheld in it, by a soft and
dovelike and free spirit. How great is the difference
between the flowing of a fountain, and the dropping
of a sponge ! One is free, the other squeezed. Between
a statue drawn upon wheels and a hving motion; one
moves, the other is moved. Our Saviour by washing
us from our sins in his own blood, "hath made us kings
and priests unto God." First, kings, putting into the
creature a royal and magnanimous frame, as he did
into Saul, when he advanced him to the kingdom; and
then priests to oflfer sacrifices to God with this royal
and generous spirit : so that it is as troublesome to a
soul, having this royal spirit, to omit things proper to
this frame, as it is for a legalist to do them. There-
fore where there are frequent omissions of duty, or a
constant dulness in it, it shows the want of this kinglv

12

134 THE NATURE

frame, and, consequently, that we are not washed from
our sins in the blood of Christ. There is both such a
nature and such a choice that as the apostle saith,
" We can do nothing against the truth, but for the
truth," 2 Cor. xiii. 8. So the new creature cannot but
do the things which are holy, just, and good, so far as
he is regenerate, were there no rule without to guide
him, because he hath a habit of holiness within him, a
will set to the right point. His former state made him
have an aversion from holy services ; this makes all
spiritual duties connatural to him ; so that it is as irk-
some for him to live without God in the world, as
before it was to live with him : he can as soon strip
himself of his own soul as act from a renewed prin-
ciple contrary to God and righteousness.

It is fervently active. The nobler the being of any
thing is, the greater degree of activity it is attended
with ; the more spiritual the quality, the more vigorous
the effect. Both the spirituality of the principle, ex-
cellency of the object, and affection to the end, con-
spire together to increase this activity. The principle
is spiritually vital; the operation therefore is vigorous:
the object is God as amiable, the warmer therefore the
zeal : the acts are, loving God, trusting in God, de-
pending on God, promoting his kingdom in the heart,
acts delightful in themselves, delightful in their issue,
the motion in them more quick : the end is the glory
of God, the happiness of the creature ; the higher tlie
end, the more elevated the soul. There is an innate
principle in every thing to preserve its happiness, it is
as natural as life itself. Inanimate creatures are en-
dued with this nature ; the flame aspires to heaven,
and waves on this and that side greedily, to catch
what may supply a fuel : much more will other crea-
tures act vehemently for that which preserves their
beings ; the toad to its plantain, the swallow to its
celendine, the babe to the breast, and the Christian to
the word. There is in the new creature an impetus
and force, settled in the soul to do good. In this re-

OF REGENERATION. 135

spect it is likened to creatures of the greatest activity;
fire, wind, a spring of living water. What more active,
in the rank of corporeal beings, than fire and wind,
either above, or in the bowels of the earth 1 Witness
the many stately buildings speedily consumed by the
one, or overthrown by the other. The new principle
in the creature fills every part, dissolves the hard
heart, and makes it movable in the ways of God with
a glowing heat. But above this, there is a higher
denomination. The new creature is called spirit, " that
which is born of the Spirit, is spirit ;" John iii. 6, that
is a spiritual creature. The activity of a spirit doth
inconceivably surmount that of a body. What vast
strides can a spirit take in a moment, from heaven to
earth ! The habit of sin, in respect of its vehemence
to evil, is called a spirit, a spirit of whoredom ; as well
as the habit of grace, in respect of its vehemence to
good, " a spirit of love," 2 Tim. i. 7. How active is
the new creature in its motion to God ! It can fly in
a thought from earth to heaven, enter the bosom of
God, clasp about him, hold him fast, even till the
Almighty says, Let me alone. Where there are rivers
of living waters in the soul they will flow; where there
is a divine habit, the soul will have a paroxysm of
divine heat for the glory of God. Acts xvii. 16.
Paul's spirit was stirred in him upon the sight of the
Athenians' idolatry. If created to good works, then
not to a dull and sluggish motion in them ; this was
not the design of the Creator, and therefore not the
disposition of the creature.

It is unboundedly active. This new creature's de-
sires are as large as his nature ; he cannot be bound
up in the narrow and contracted motions of his former
disposition. The natural activity of the soul over-
flows, like a swelled river, all natural bounds, since
it is possessed by a spiritual habit. A man without
a habit in an art, doth but bungle at his work, is
quickly tired, desponds of attaining what he would;
but he that hath a habit, suppose of mathematical

136 THE NATURE

knowledge, finds one proposition following upon an-
other, one deduction rising up from another, that he
hath a largeness he knows not where to end: so the
new creature finds one afl^ection" coming upon the
neck of another, many times in transports and out-
goings to God, which know no limits. It is unbound-
edly active,

In aflfections to God. The new creature would bo
as unlimited in its affections to God, as God is in his
afibctions to him. It will not fix lower than the ob-
ject it hath pitched upon in heaven ; all its operations
lend thither; nothing below can give them a cessa-
tion, though they may sufier an interruption ; it flies
up, and is pulled back ; it mounts again and again,
follows hard on after the Lord. His afibctions are
larger than his ability. " Whom have I in heaven
but thee ? and there is none in earth that I desire be-
sides thee." Psa. Ixxiii. 25. He seems to scorn every
thing else in comparison of God, though it were an
angel. Like a man that makes haste to some mark,
turns the impediments on this side and that side ; the
new creature puts by the temptations of the flesh and
the world, to make its way into the bosom of God,
the centre of its rest, and the boundless limit of its
soul. The sun, so many thousand miles distant from
us, sends its rays as far as the lowest valley of the
earth ; and the new creature, the dartings of his soul
to the highest heavens. " Where the Spirit of the
Lord is, there is liberty;" the veil is taken away, it
*' beholds, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord;" like
an eagle, mounts up as near as it can to the sun,
gazes upon it till its eyes be dazzled with its bright-
ness ; he is never glutted with the views of him : his
desires for him are never bounded but by him ; one
breathing after another, that he may fill God, as it were,
with his atfections, as he is filled by him, with his
Spirit. In his obedience too, he would have his heart
enlarged, that he may run, not creep, in the ways of
God's cotnmandmenls ; it is his grief that he cannot

OF REGENERATION. 137

keep pace with God's commandments : it is his joy
that God flies upon the wings of the wind to him,
and his sorrow that he cannot fly upon the wings of
the wind to God. He groans under his dulness, and
his pleasure consists much in a liberty in God's ser-
vice.

The principle of the new creature is active in disaf-
fection to sin. He hates that body of death which
hinders the accomplishment of the desires of his soul;
and regards it at no other rate, than his fetter, dis-
ease, and torture. He is discomposed when he meets
with any check in his religious course ; it is a violence
to his new nature, and he cannot bear it without
regret. His anger and impatience rise with as much
force against any obstacle to a free converse with
God, as it did before against any impediment in the
way of his lust. Nature is restless till it hath got the
conquest of the disease and corrupt humours of the
body. Neither can a new creature be at quiet, till
all that is against the interest of the new nature be
purged out ; and to that purpose he daily knocks at
heaven's gate for new strength and recruits of power
against sin in the spiritual conflict. It is a trouble to
him that he hath not as full a sense of his own cor-
ruptions as he would, and therefore he goes frequently
to God to beg new discoveries of sin, that he may
fetch his enemy out of his holds, and beat it to death;
for by this habit the understanding is more quick in
discerning the first rising of any sinful motion, and
sensible of the least touch contrary to the new interest
of it.

The new nature is powerfully active. There is not
only an unbounded affection, but there is a power in-
herent in this habit to enable the soul to act; all habits
add strength to the faculty. It is therefore called
" might in the inner man ;" " and a spirit of power."
It is put as a stock into the heart, to maintain the acts
of holiness ; as there is a stock of sap in the root to
produce branches and fruit; a power of acting is
12*

138 THE NATURE

always united with a form, and rooted in it. In regard
the new nature is implanted by a higher cause than
any moral habits, even by the Spirit of God, it must
be able to do more than any moral nature can ; and
being more excellent than moral nature, must produce
more excellent operations, otherwise it were not of a
more excellent kind, if it had not a more excellent
power. Jesus Christ was appointed to be a quickening
Spirit, to convey a powerful life, to enable us to live
to God. The kingdom of God in the heart, as well
as that in the world, is not in word but in power.
Move steel as often as you will, you can never make
it of itself move towards the north ; but by the impres-
sion made on it by the loadstone, there is a power
derived to turn, and stand that way of its own accord.
By nature we are without strength, because without
life. But in the renewing there is strength conveyed
together with life ; an ability to walk in God's statutes,
conveyed with the new heart : out of weakness the
soul is made strong ; and the grace within, in concur-
rence with the supplies of the Spirit, is sufficient for
H. It is not only an outward strength, as is a staff
in a sick man's hand; but an inward might. But
beside this inherent strength, there is an adherent
ability; for Christ, who is his life, is also his strength;
" I can do all things through Christ which strengthen-
eth me," Phil. iv. 13. So that whatsoever active
power is wanting in itself, can be supplied by the
nead. And therefore the new creature hath a kind
of almighty power of activity, by the communication
of anotlier, which is called a greatness of power, and
a mighty power which works towards them, or in
them that believe. This power doth reside in the
heart, and this adherent power is ready for it; but
neither of them is always perceptible, but upon some
emergency; as a sound man hath a greater power to
act than he puts forth upon all occasions.

It is easily active. Since that motion to God, and
for God, is connatural and voluntary, and a power

OF REGENEllATION. 1^

and ability also in the new creature, it must follow,
that the motion is very easy. Habits are to strengthen
the faculty and facilitate the acting of it. Bubbling
is no pain to a fountain : rivers of water flow out of
their sources easily, because naturally. The motion
of this habit is as easy as the motion of the lungs, or
the pulse of the artery; though constant, yet not trou-
blesome or painful in itself; but by reason of some
imparted humour settled in them. This stock of grace
is called the unction. "But ye have an unction from
the holy One;" 1 John ii. 20; the inward oiling the
soul, as oil communicates agility to the body. This
unction some understand of habitual grace, conveyed
from the holy One by the Spirit. As this unction upon
our Saviour was the cause of his activity for God in
doing good ; '* God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with
the Holy Ghost, and with power, who went about
doing good;" Acts x. 38; so it being the same in the
new creature, will have the like effect upon him.
Supernatural motions are as easy by the strength of
a supernatural habit, as natural motions are by the
strength of natural habits. A bird flies with as much
ease upward, as a beast walks upon the ground; and
the seed doth with as much ease spring up, and put
its ear out of the ground, as a bitter root doth its un-
wholesome fruits and flowers. So when the soul is
filled with this new habit, the walks in the ways of
God are as easy by virtue of it, as a course of sin and
folly was before. The yoke of itself is easy, and the
motion under a light yoke cannot be grievous : the
very yoke is not a shackle and burden, but a privi-
lege. There is indeed some reluctance sometimes,
which ariseth not from the will, as renewed, but from
some evil habits resident in the soul, not yet fully
conquered by renewing grace. You know how the
apostle Paul doth distinguish between the posture of
his will, and the interruptions by that sin which dwelt
in him.

It is pleasantly active. As all actions which flow

140 THE NATURE

from life are pleasant, so those which flow from a
divine life in the soul. It is a joy to a just man to
" do judgment." That is, the entire inclination of the
soul, stands right to such actions : and it is as much a
joy to him to do judgment, w^hen enabled thereunto
by a gracious habit, as it is to a sinful man under the
bonds of iniquity, to commit evil. His soul leaps as
much at an opportunity of pleasing God as John the
Baptist did in his mother's womb at the appearance
of Christ ; as much as his heart sprung up before at
the proposal of a sinful object. Never did the sun
naturally rejoice so much " like a strong man, to run
its race" in the heavens, as the new man doth spirit-
ually rejoice to run his race to heaven. It is a mighty
pleasure to have our spiritual enemies under our feet,
to be estranged from them : it is the purest delight to
comply with God, and be embosomed in him.

From all these things there appears,

A predominance of grace in the new creature. As
a state of nature consists in the prevalence of the cor-
rupt habit, which leavens the whole man; so the state
of grace, in a predominance of the gracious habit,
which spreads itself over the whole soul, striving with
the powerful opposite, which in part resides there still.
It is a habit put into man, and destroys that habit of
sin which was there before : the soul by it is made
alive from the dead, " Yield yourselves to God, as
those that are alive from the dead," Rom. vi. 13.
Life triumphs over death ; grace over nature, where-
by the members become instruments of righteous-
ness unto God, instead of being instruments of unright-
eousness unto sin. It is put in to guide reason and
will, and therefore is invested with the sovereign power.
As sense was first in man, but that veiled when reason
stept into the throne, as being a more excellent prin-
ciple than sense ; so must reason descend and give
place to grace when that comes in, as being a more
excellent principle than reason. It is reason it should
have the sovereignty, for it doth but regain its own

OF REGtNEUATlOxV. 141

right, and take possession, which by the law of crea-
tion it ought to have kept till violently ejected by man.
He that hath this habit hath a spirit of might, as well
as of the fear of the Lord, the same Spirit which was
in Christ, which is a spirit of might. " They that are
Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections
and lusts ;" have, not shall : as soon as ever they are
Christ's, which they are by this principle, a deadly
wound is given to sin. Such a one scorns to have any
thing more to do with idols ; he overcomes the world,
*• Whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world,"
1 John V. 4; he can do all things, enter the Hsts with
the strongest Goliah ; repel the sharpest temptations,
through Christ which strengthens him.

There follows from hence a difficulty to sin. No
creature can easily act against a rooted habit. How
hard is it to make a beast do that which is different
from, and contrary to his nature ? To act contrary
to nature is burdensome and intolerable. What crea-
ture would willingly change its element 1 Will a bird
sink of its own accord into the water, or a fish delight
to leap upon the land, whose only element is the water?
What creature would court the destruction of its fife?
What man would willingly deform and gash his own
body ? Men never do so by nature, but when phrenzy
hath dispossessed them of their reason. Sin must dis-
possess a Christian of his grace, before it can be easy
for him to run into ways destructive to his nature and
blessedness. That principle which is in all natures,
must be more eminently in the highest nature, and
proportionably in every nature that is of nearest ap-
proach to it. Righteousness and holiness are the very
constitution of the new creature, " The new man
which after God is created in righteousness and true
holiness," Ephes. iv. 24. It is as impossible for
the new creature to sin by the influence of habit, as for
fire to moisten by the quality of heat, or water to burn
by the quality of cold. It is as impossible for that
habit to bring forth the fruits of sin, as for the sun to

142 THE NATURE

he the cause of darkness ; or a sweet fig-tree to bring
forth sour fruit. Yet as there is darkness in the air,
though the sun be up, by the interposition of thick
clouds, so is there darkness in the new creature from
the habit of sin in the soul, which is not only a lodger,
but an unwelcome inhabitant; Rom. vii. 20. Sin that
dwells in me still, and acts according to its nature,
though much overpowered and weakened by degrees
by the habit of grace. Therefore it is a hard thing
for him to sin, "he cannot sin," 1 John iii. 9. It is as
hard for him to contradict the new nature, as before
to cross the old. I cannot do this wickedness, said
Joseph; it is against the frame and disposition of my
soul.

It must be difficult to sin against purpose of heart,
which is the lowest step of the new nature though it
be not hard to sin against a flashy resolve.

It is hard for a man to sin who hath cordially chosen
God for his portion, which every new nature doth,
with a fixed resolution to keep his word, ** Thou art
my portion, O Lord : I have said, that I would keep
thy words," Psa. cxix. 57. When it is carried out
with a free motion to God, it cannot easily be diverted
from that charming object : he cannot but value any
diversion at no better a rate than that of punishment.

It is difficult for him to contradict the new habit,
wherewith he is so highly pleased, and which he is
assured hath nothing but happiness in the womb of it.
It must be difficult for him to act that, which by virtue
of this habit he is daily in the mortification of. It is
difficult for the habit of sin in him, to do the same
acts, after it hath received a deadly wound, as for a
wounded man to do that which he could when he was
sound.

This nature cannot be in a man without an universal
enmity to sin, though it may without an universal
victory ; this belongs to the perfection of it ; but enmity
to the very constitution of it; I will put enmity
between the seed of the woman, and the seed of the

OF REGENERATION. 143

serpent. He can at the best but half sin, and scarcely
that : he could not commit sin very freely before, be-
cause of the reluctance of natural conscience; he can
less freely do it now, since there is a habit of grace in
him, which doth more powerfully fly in the face of sin
when it appears ; therefore there can be but a partial
will to it, or delight in it. The new man in the heart
can never do it ; the old man remaining cannot fully
do it, because of the contradiction it receives from the
new habit. If he doth at any time sin, this new nature
can be no more pleased with it, than the nature of a
man is with the poison which he hath wilfully taken,
which will contest with it, and endeavour to expel it,
whether a man will or no : so that if a new creature
be overcome at a disadvantage, and be defiled by the
remaining habit of sin in the heart, his spirit is
wounded, his soul bleeds, his conscience upbraids him,
he is displeased with himself, and with his sin, runs to
God, searcheth into himself, calls heaven and earth to
his assistance, sharpens his spiritual weapons, and by
virtue of this habit in him is dissatisfied, and in little
ease, till he hath overcome this rebellion of lust, dis-
possessed it, removed the guilt, and cast out the filth.

CHAPTER IV.

Regeneration considered as a law put into the heart —It is the
law of grace restored in the heart — It does not make tlie out-
ward law useless — It consists in inward knowledge of the law,
conformity of the heart to it, affection for it, ability to obey it
— There is a likeness to God in the regenerate, not in essence
but by participation— Likeness to Christ and the Holy Spirit
— This likeness consists in affections, in actions, in holiness —
The inferences deducible from the doctrine.

As we have considered this work as a change, a vital
principle, a habit, so we will consider it as a law put
into the heart. Every creature hath a law belonging
to its nature, so hath the new creature. Man hath a

144 THE NATURE

law of reason ; beasts a law of sense and instinct ;
plants a law of vegetation ; inanimate creatures a law
of motion. A new creature hath a law put into his
heart. *• I will put my law in their inward parts, and
write it in their hearts," Jer. xxxi. 23 : cited by the
apostle, Heb. viii. 10. It is called, the law of the mind,
Rom. vii. 23 ; its first beginning is in the illumination
of that faculty ; as sin began first in a false judgment
made of the precept of God, " ye shall be as Gods
knowing good and evil."

This law of the mind, or law written in the heart,
is not wholly the same with the law of nature. Some
indeed tell us, that it is nothing but the law of right
reason. But certainly they are mistaken, it is a law
of grace. The law of nature was the law of a cove-
nant of works ; this law of the mind is the law of the
covenant of grace. The law of nature is in all men ;
this law of grace only in some: the law of nature was
in Paul before his conversion, this law of the mind
was in him upon his conversion. The law of nature
consists not of faith in a Mediator; but faith is a main
part of the law of grace. The law of nature acquaints
not a man with the knowledge of all sins, not with un-
belief; this law of grace doth, for the conviction of
this is a work of the Spirit. *' Of sin, because they
believe not in me," John xvi. 8, 9. The law of nature
is the general work of the Mediator in all men, who
enlightens every man that comes into the world. This
is the peculiar work of the Mediator by his Spirit, in
the hearts of those that believe : the law of nature doth
not oppose sin as sin, this law of grace doth : the law
of nature is no part of sanctification, for this is in men
that are born of the flesh ; but the law of the mind is a
part of sanctification, and wars against the law of the
members : there is indeed a war and a contest from
the law of nature against some gross sins, but not
against the law of sin in the members. As sin wars
against the law of the mind, as a law of direction ; so

OF REOENERATION. 145

the law of the mind, or the law of grace, wars against
sin, as it is a law which pretends to guide and order
the ways of a man.

Yet it is the restoring of that law, which was the
law of nature originally. It is a renewing in the heart
that law, which was written in the heart of Adam,
" That new man which after God is created in righteous-
ness and true holiness," Eph. iv. 24; alluding to that
righteousness wherein Adam was created, lost by him,
and restored by Christ : this righteousness which
Adam had, was the first righteousness of the law.
This was the law written in the heart originally, which
was defaced by the fall ; and whatsoever relics there
were of this law in man, were only upon the account
of the mediation of Christ ; it is this law which is new
engraven in the soul by regeneration. God doth not
say, I will write another law in their hearts, but my
law; that which was my standing law, my law to
Adam, and to your fathers. The law written in the
heart is not substantially distinct from that in the
nature of Adam. Man by his fall did blot this law,
lost his righteousness, had an enmity in his heart to it,
and to the very relics of it. He is not naturally sub-
ject to the law, nor can be, as it is the law of God,
because of his enmity to God ; the law of sin had
taken the place of it. Regeneration is a taking down
the law of sin, and fixing the law of God in its due
place and posture.

This law is written in the heart wholly. The whole
law ; every command which hath the print of God
upon it, is written there. As God writ his whole law
in tables of stone, so he writes the whole law in the
fleshly tables of the heart. It is true holiness and
righteousness ; true, as to its essential and integral
parts. God doth not write one part of the law upon
the heart, and leave out another; it is not a moiety of
it, the impression of one command, and the defect of
another. If it were not the whole law, something be-
longing to the essence of a new creaiifre \vould be

I

146 THE NATURE

wanting ; it would not be a new creature, because it
would be a monster, wanting something necessarily
requisite to the constitution of it ; and would not be
a new creature according to the original copy. Where
there is an agreeableness in one nature to another, it
is to the whole nature, the nature of the soul to the
nature of the law.

This law written in the heart doth not make the
outward law useless : for that is still a rule. This in-
ward law written in the heart, is a conformity to the
outward rule ; and therefore is not a rule itself. The
law in the heart is imprinted by the external word in
the hand of the Spirit ; and therefore to try the truth
of the law within, we must have recourse to the law
written. If a man hath notions of any human law,
he must consult the law written, to know whether his
notions of it be right, and whether his actions be ac-
cording to the letter and reason of the law, or no : as
the law of sin within a man is not the rule of judging
of sin, but the law of God ; so neither is the law of
grace within the rule of judging good, but the word
of God. The law within, though it be commensurate
to the law in its essential parts, yet is imperfect as
yet ; but a rule ought to be perfect, and so the written
law is. It is this law written in the word, that we are
to take heed to, for the cleansing of our ways. " Thy
word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin
against thee." When this writing of the law in the
heart was promised, there was also an inward teach-
ing promised. " And they shall teach no more every
man his neighbour, saying. Know the Lord :" Jer.
xxxi. 32 ; which is spoken in regard of the abundance
of the knowledge which should be in the time of
gospel light, above what was in the twilight of Jewish
ceremonies ; so that the weakest Christian under the
gospel knows more of God and his attributes in Christ,
than the greatest Jewish doctor did before the coming
of Christ, This was not so understood by Cyhrist, as
jf teaching others were utterly useless ; for then why

OF REGENERATION. 14 T

should he institute Apostles, Pastors, Teachers, &c.,
and promise to be with them to the end of the world,
if this promise of inward teaching made outward
teaching useless 1 In like manner, neither doth the
writing the law in the heart, make the outward written
law useless, but rather it doth establish and advance
it, and the esteem of it. The outward law is the rule;
as the model of a house is the rule by which a car-
penter is to make a building, and to which he is to
conform that idea he hath in his mind of it ; but that
idea or figure of it which he hath in his mind, is to be
suited to that rule which is prescribed to him in the
outward pattern ; and therefore that pattern is to be
consulted. The law of God is of eternal duration ;
and as it is a law of holiness and love of God, doth
oblige every reasonable creature, in what condition
soever he be, whether of nature, grace or glory.

Wherein doth this writing of the law in the heart
consist 1 I answer ;

In an inward knowledge of the law, and approba-
tion of it in the understanding. The knowledge of
righteousness, and the being of the law in the heart,
are put together as the proper character of the people
of God. " Hearken to me ye that know righteous-
ness, the people in whose heart is my law." Isa. li. 5.
Lest they should think a knowledge were enough, he
adds, in whose heart is my law; not in the head, but
in the heart. There is in a renewed understanding,
a principle teaching how to make use of the law. It
is like the inward skill of a pilot, who guides the ship
by the compass and rudder. The outward law is the
compass by which we must steer; the inward law is
the practical knowledge of this ; an inward skill to
make application of it to particular occasions. The
word of God being a seed, doth, as every seed, pro-
duce a being like itself, and like that plant whose seed
it is ; from the seed of corn ariseth a grain of the same
nature. This seed being sown first in the understand-
ing, is there cherished, and grows up in principles and

148

THE IVATURE

thoughts agreeable to itself, whereby the mind becomes
the epistle of Christ, and an ark to preserve the tables
of the law; whence David speaks of his soul keeping
God's testimonies, and not forgetting them. The new
creature by its new light sees an amiableness in the
law, a holiness in the precepts, and a filthiness in him-
self thereby.

It consists in an inward conformity of the heart to
the law. The soul hath a likeness to the word and
doctrine of the gospel within it ; it is delivered into
that mould. '* Ye have obeyed from the heart that
form of doctrine, into which ye were delivered."
Rom. vi. 17. He considers the gospel as a mould,
and the Romans as a metal poured into it, and putting
on the form of it. As melted metal poured into a
mould, loses its former form, and puts on a new shape,
the same figure with the mould into which it is poured;
the soul which before was a servant of sin, and had
the image of the law of sin, being melted by the Spirit,
is cast into the figure and form of the law. As when
a seal hath made its impression upon wax, the stamp
in the one answers exactly to the stamp on the other;
put the seal on again, and they both will meet as close
as if they were one body, the wax will fill every cavity
in the seal ; but put this seal to any impression made
by another seal, there will be an inequality, the stamp
on the seal and that on the wax will not close. The
law of sin and the law of God being contrary impres-
sions, cannot close together ; but the law of grace in
the heart, and the law of God, close, they being but
one and the same stamp. So that when any command
of God appears, a new creature finds something
within it of kin to it ; as a natural man finds something
ready to close with sin upon the appearance of it.
The heart answers to the law as a lock to a key,
ward for ward ; sometimes it may not answer, but
resist, as a lock doth, because of some rust or some
fihh got into it ; but then it needs not a new making
but a new cleansing, to answer exactly to the key of

OF REGENERATION. 149

the law: so that as the "Gentiles having not the law,
are a law to themselves," having it written upon their
minds in those notions common to mankind ; so the
new creature, if he had not the written law, would be
a law to himself. So natural is this conformity, that
were there no law without, the renewed soul would
naturally be carried out in the ways of holiness. The
law, saith the apostle, is not made for a righteous
man : it is not chiefly intended for the righteous, but
for the unrighteous, who would not stir one step in
any good action without it, and will hardly stir with
it. There would be no need of any written law in a
commonweahh, if all men had an exact justice and
righteousness in their own minds, and did jointly con-
spire to the good of the community. But when dis-
turbers of the peace and common welfare start up,
there is need then of public laws to restrain them.
But there is no need of a public enacting of a law for
them that are good, because what the law enjoins,
they do by their own judgment and inclination. So
that what a new creature doth in observance of the
law, is from natural freedom, choice and judgment,
and not by the force of any threatenings annexed to it.
It consists in a strong propensity to the obedience
of it. As there was a strong impetus in the old
nature, inclining it to sin; so there is a strong impulse
in the new nature, biassing it to observe the com-
mands of the law. In this respect it is chiefly called
a law written in the heart, in regard of the eflicacious
virtue of this new nature, sweetly constraining, and
directly conducting to the performance of it. The
law without us commands us : the law within con-
strains us : that enjoins a thing to be done; this inclines
us to the doing of it. The first law is written in the
Scripture, or in the conscience, whereby we judge
those commands to be kept ; the other consists in the
propension of love, or faith working by love. As the
impulse of concupiscence is called the law of sin, so the
impulse of grace is called the law in the heart : not as

13*

ISO THE NATURE

a thing distinct from the law without, but only a
counterpart of it, and indenture answering to the
other. They are but two parts united between them-
selves, and compose one perfect law : one as the
direction, the other as the practice : that lays the
injunction, this embraceth it ; and as naturally from
the disposition of the new nature, as he did embrace
the law of sin, from the disposition of the old. It is
a powerful, operative law of the Spirit of life, which
sets us free from the law of sin and death ; not a dead
letter, but an active principle, quickening the heart to
close with the law, and delivering it from that which
was the great hinderance to it. As the devil doth act
in men's hearts, not personally, but by a principle in
the heart, the law of sin ; so doth the Spirit of life, by
the law of grace : for being written by a living Spirit,
it is a living law. This is the chief intent of the whole
new creation, to cause us to walk in God's statutes.
" The law of God is in his heart, none of his steps
shall slide." Psa. xxxvii. 31. The soul being thus
evangelized, and spiritualized, may be said to do by
nature the things contained in the gospel, as the
Gentiles are said to do by nature the things contained
in the law, because there was a law of nature engraven
in them.

It consists in a mighty affection to the law. What
is in the word a law of precept, is in the heart a law
of love : what is in the one a law of command, is in
the other a law of liberty. " Love is the fulfilling of
the law :" the law of love in the heart, is the fulfilling
the law of God in the spirit. It may well be said to
be written in the heart, when a man doth love it ; as
we say, a beloved thing is in our hearts, not physically,
but morally. It is a love that is inexpressible. David
delights to mention it in two verses together, " I will
delight myself in thy commandments, which I have
loved : my hands will I lift up to thy commandments,
which I have loved," Psa. cxix. 47, 48 ; and often in
that Psalm resumes the assertion. Before the new

OF REGENERATION. 151

creation, there was no affection to the law; it was not
only a dead letter, but a devilish letter in the esteem
of man: he wished it razed out of the world, and
another, more pleasing to the flesh, enacted: he would
be a law to himself But when this is written within
him, he is so pleased with the inscription, that he
would not for all the world be without that law, and
the love of it : whereas what obedience he paid to it
before, was out of fear, now out of affection ; not only
because of the authority of the lawgiver, but of the
purity of the law itself He would maintain it with
all his might against the power of sin within, and the
powers of darkness without him. He loves to view
this law ; regards every lineament of it, and dwells
upon every feature with delightful ravishments. If his
eye be off", or his foot go away, how doth he dissolve
in tears, mourn and groan, till his former afl^ection
hath recovered breath, and stands upon its feet 1 If
he finds not his heart answering the law, he longs
after the precepts, as the prophet saith, " I have longed
after thy precepts, quicken me in thy righteousness,"
Psa. cxix. 40. He longs to join hands again with the
holiness of them. As his heart is inclined to obey it,
so it is wounded upon any neglect of it, and never at
ease, till he be reduced to his former delight in it. He
hath no mind ever to part with it, because of its
intrinsic goodness, as well as conveniency for him. It
is his pleasure, not his confinement ; his ornament, not
his fetter : he hates every thing that is contrary to it.
How did Paul grieve, and groan under the body of
death, when he considered what opposition the law in
his members made against the law of his mind 1 The
law in his members brought him into captivity to the
law of sin : then, O wretched man that I am ! though
he knew he was in part delivered from it: how doth
he long for a perfect redemption from his shackles,
which hindered him from following the law of his
delight. And he that never murmured at his suffer-
ings, but could glory in persecutions and death for

153

THE NATURE

Christ, seems to be impatient, till he could hear the
last expiring groan of this enemy : all which was the
efTect of his delight in the law of God after the inward
man. And that this writing the law, doth principally
consist in this affection, those two expressions, "putting
the law into the inward parts," and " writing it in the
heart," intimate. The nature of man being enmity
against the law of God, the writing it argues, not a
change of the law, but a change of the frame of the
heart to the law, that should be so fashioned, that the
law should reign there, and all his affections subscribe
to it. As the writing the law in the heart of Christ,
was nothing else but the agreeableness of the media-
tory law to him, and his deHght in it ; so it is with a
new creature.

It consists in an actual ability to obey. Writing the
law in the heart, implies a putting a power and strength
into the soul, enabling it to run the ways of God's
commandments, as well as to incline the heart and
affections to them ; the promise is made to the latter
times: not but that the ancient patriarchs were rege-
nerate, but not by the law; not by any covenant of
works : this ability did not reside in the law, but was
transferred to them from the gospel. In this respect
it is called a letter, because it did only instruct the eye
or ear, when read or heard ; this teaches the heart ;
that a killing letter, this a quickening spirit; that
exacted the observance of its precepts, but wrote
nothing in the heart to answer it, but condemned upon
neglect; this commands the observance of the law, and
gives an ability evangelically to perform it. That was
a ministration of condemnation, this of righteousness ;
that could do no other but condemn, because it gave
no intrinsic power to observe it. It is through Jesus
Christ that we are enabled by virtue of this inward writ-
ing to serve with our minds the law of God, though in
our flesh we be captivated by the law of sin. As an un-
regenerate man is dragged to any good, but is willingly
obedient to the motions of sin ; so a regenerate man

OF REGENEEATION. 153

is sometimes under the tyranny of sin, but is willingly
obedient to the motions of grace. So that the law is
written in the heart, in respect of the assent of the
understanding, consent of the will, pleasure of the
the affections : in the understanding, by the clearness
of the light of faith ; in the will, by the heat of the fire
of love. In the understanding there is a judicious
approbation of it ; in the will, a motion to it, closing
with it, and an affection to keep it ; and according to
its ability, an endeavour to keep pace with it.

As there is a vital principle, an habit, a law written
in the heart, so there is a likeness to God in the new
creature. Every creature hath a likeness to something
or other in the rank of beings ; the new creature is
framed according to the most exact pattern, even God
himself. In this the form of regeneration doth consist.
The new creature is begotten ; begotten then in the
likeness of the begetter, which is God. As sin is the
impression of Satan's image, which was drawn over
all by the fall, so renewing grace is the impression of
the image of God ; for it is a quite contrary thing to
corruption. This likeness to God was man's original
happiness in creation, and is his restored happiness in
redemption, " renewed in knowledge after the image
of him that created him," Col. ii. 10. His misery con-
sisted in losing it ; our felicity therefore doth consist
in recovering it. Hence it is called a divine nature.
Every thing receives its denomination from the belter
part. A man is denominated rational, though he hath
both a sensitive principle common with beasts, and a
vegetative, or growing principle, common with plants:
so a new creature is denominated divine, because
grace, a divine principle is superior to the soul. Every
pjrfection in the creature is supposed to be essentially
somewhere. Every impression supposeth a seal that
stamped it ; every stream a fountain from whence it
sprung; every beam a sun from whence it is shot.
Grace being the highest perfection of^ the creature,
must be somewhere essentially : where can that be but

154

THE NATURE

in God ? It must then have a resemblance to him as
a child to the father, the copy to the original. We
are said to be born of God. Now to be born of any
thing, is to receive a form like that, which the gene-
rating person hath. But,

It is not a likeness to God in essence. It is no par-
ticipation of the essence of God. It is a nature, not
the essence ; a likeness in an inward disposition, not
in the infinite substance, which is communicated by
generation only to the Son, and by procession to the
Holy Ghost. The divine essence is incommunicable
to any creature. Infiniteness cannot be represented,
much less communicated. Man is no more renewed
according to God's image, than he was at first created
according to it ; which was not a communication of the
divine essence, but of a righteousness resembling the
righteousness of God, according to the capacity of
Adam's nature; which image of God in Adam, is by the
apostle restrained to that of " righteousness and true
holiness." The likeness in a state of glory, is founded
upon a sight of God as he is ; which may more pro-
perly be meant of the seeing of Christ, as he is in
glory ; for the apostle goes on in the discourse, with-
out naming of Christ ; but without question, means
him, when he says, that " he was manifested to take
away our sins." We shall be like him as we shall see
him ; therefore not in essence. His essence is con-
cluded by most to be invisible, even in glory. How can
finite creatures behold an infinite being ? He must be
God that knows God's essence. We shall understand
him in his affections, as a father ; in his wise acts, as
a governor ; in his judicial acts, as a justifier ; in his
merciful acts, as a reconciler : we shall see him in all
his relations to us. Such a vision we shall have, what-
soever it is, which shall transform us into as high a
likeness to him. as a finite creature is capable of. There
can be no parJ:icipation of the substantial perfections
of ^ od, which are incommunicable : for then it would
no^ De a participation, but an identity, oneness, or

OF REGENERATION. 155

equality. God put in one letter, and the chiefest of
his name, Jehovah, whicli is twice repeated in it, into
the names of Abraham and Sarai, reckoned Nehem.
ix. 7, as one of his favours to Abraham ; but not the
whole name ; that is incommunicable ; and Jacob's
name is changed to that of Israel, putting in a com-
municable name of God.

Yet it is a real participation. It is not a picture,
but a nature; it is divine. God doth not busy himself
about apparitions. It is a likeness, not only in actions,
but in nature. If God communicates to the creature,
a singular participation of the divine vision, and divine
love, why may he not also give some excellent parti-
cipation of his nature? There is a nature, for there
is something whereby we are constituted the children
of God : a bare affection to God doth not seem to do
this. Love constitutes a man a friend, not a son and
heir by generation. The apostle argues, " If children,
then heirs." He could not argue in a natural way, if
friends, then heirs. And the scripture speaks of be-
lievers being the children of God, by a spiritual gene-
ration, as well as by adoption. So that grace, which
doth constitute one a child of God, is another form
whereby a divine nature is communicated. Genera-
tion is the production of one living thing by another,
in the likeness of its nature, not only in the likeness
of love ; so is regeneration. Were not a real likeness
attainable, why should those exhortations be, of being
holy as God is holy, pure as he is pure 1 The new
creature receives the image of God ; not as a glass
receives the image of a man, which is only an appear-
ance, no real existence, and though it be like the
person, yet hath no communion with its nature: but
as wax receives the image of the seal, which though
it receives nothing of its substance, yet receives
exactly the stamp, and answers it in every part : so
the scripture represents it, " Ye were sealed with
that holy Spirit of promise." Eph. i. 13. Something
of God's perfections are in the new creature by way

156 THE NATURE

of quality, which are in God by way of essence. In
a word, it is as real a likeness to God as the creature
is capable of, laid in the first draughts of it in rege-
neration, and completed in the highest measures in
glory.

It is the whole image of God, which is drawn in the
new^ creature. It is the image of God, not a part : a
foot, or a finger, is but the image of those parts, not
of a man. The members in a child answer to those
in a parent, that is but a chip from the body of his
father, though not in so great a proportion. The image
of a man hath not only the face, or eyes, but the other
members. Though a Christian may have one or two
parts of this image, more beautiful than the rest ; as a
man may have a sparkling eye, that hath not a pro-
portionable lip : yet he hath all the members of a man.
The painter's skill appears in some lineaments more
than in others. So the Spirit's wisdom appears in
making some eminent in one grace, some in another,
according to his good pleasure; yet the whole image
of God is imprinted there ; it would be else not a like-
ness, but a monstrous birth in defect. *' The fruit of
the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth:"
and therefore the immediate effect of the Spirit in the
soul is the engraving all goodness, righteousness, and
truth in the essential parts of it. As God's nature is
holy, his perfections holy, his actions holy, so holiness
beautifies the nature, inspirits the actions, and is
written upon all the endowments of a renewed man.
There is an impression of the wisdom of God in the
understanding, and of the holiness of God in the will.

It is more pecuHarly a likeness to Christ, wherein
we partake of his nature. He that doth righteousness
is righteous, as Christ is righteous. There is a real
likeness to Christ in righteousness, though not an equal
perfection. The new nature is a draught of Christ ;
something of Christ put into the soul ; such a likeness
to Christ, that it seems to be, as another Christ; as the
image of the sun seems to be another sun, in a pail of

OF REGENERATION. 157

water; therefore called a "forming of Christ in us."
Not by any comnaunication of his substance, either of
the divine or human nature ; but by conveying such
affections into us, which bear a likeness to the affec-
tions of Christ. Hence we are exhorted to have the
same mind which Christ had, and to arm ourselves
with the same mind; which supposes such a mind put
into the new creature, which he is to excite, and put
into actual exercise. And the apostle speaks of a
conformity to Christ in his death and resurrection.
And God did predestinate all his own to be conformed
to the image of his S( n. Jesus Christ conformed him-
self to us, by assuming the human nature ; and God
conforms us to Christ by bestowing upon us a divine.
Hence we are said to be the seed of Christ. Not a
carnal seed, as the Jews say; and therefore deny
Christ to be the Messiah, because he left no posterity.
Whereas seed is spiritually understood ; as in the first
promise, the seed of the serpent or the devil. Devils
do not beget, but metaphorically, as they instil their
cursed principles into men. So Christ sows his prin-
ciples in us, whereby we become his seed. Hence also
renewed men are called his fellows. If fellows with
him in the covenant, and fellows with him in glory,
fellows also with him in his disposition of loving
righteousness, and hating iniquity. This disposition
was the inward motive of his death, and the founda-
tion of his advancement. Without this disposition we
cannot be conformable to him in his death, and con-
sequently not his fellows in his advancement. The new
creature is a likeness to Christ ; therefore called the
new man ; as the natural man is like to Adam, there-
fore called the old man. The new man and old man
are titles of Christ and Adam, and transferred to
others by a figure. These are the heads and roots of
the two distinct bodies of men in the world. All are
in the old Adam by nature, and so partake of the old
man. All believers are in the new Adam by faith,
and so partake of the nature of the new man : as we

14

158 THE NATURE

did partake of Adam's nature by our natural birth, so
we partake of the nature of Christ by our spiritual ; by
the one we have the image of the earthly, by the other
the new creature has the image of the heavenly ;
the one derives sin, the other righteousness: they both
imprint their image according to the quality of their
extraction. Christ is full of purity, righteousness,
charity, patience, humility, truth, and in a word, all
the parts of holiness ; then the form and image of
Christ in the new creature can be no other than a
lively representation of those divine qualities : a soul
glittering with goodness, humility, &c., which the
apostle comprehends in two words, righteousness and
true holiness. Therefore if there be not a likeness to
Christ in the frame and qualities of our souls, we are
not born of him. No man will say an ox, or a sheep,
or a dog, descends from Adam, because they have not
the likeness, shape, and qualities of Adam; neither can
any man without such a likeness to Christ in faith,
humility, patience, love, obedience, and minding the
glory of God, number himself in the spiritual seed of
Christ. He retains the nature poisoned by the serpent,
creeping upon the earth, feeding upon the dust, not the
nature formed by the eternal Spirit.

It is a likeness to the Spirit, which is the immedi-
ate cause of it. Therefore the new creature is called
spirit in the abstract, as a natural man is called flesh
in the abstract. " That which is born of the flesh is
flesh ; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
John iii. 6. As that which is born of the flesh, is like
to flesh in its nature; so that which is born of the
Spirit is like to the Spirit in its nature ; as light in the
air, being the natural efl^ect flowing from the sun, is
like to that light which is in the sun: its relishes,
delights, breathings, are according to its spiritual
original. Its motions, purposes, dispositions, are like
those of the Holy Ghost, of whom it is born. The
principles and impressions in the nature must be
agreeable to those the Spirit hath. The Spirit is c;

OF REGENERATION. 169

Spirit of holiness, grace, love, and zeal for the glory
of God ; his office is to exalt and glorify Christ. If
we are renewed, then we shall have the same draught
in our hearts, the same design, the fleshly principle
will be changed into spiritual. They will be habitual
too, as the frame of the Holy Spirit is ; a natural man
may do some acts that look like spiritual, by fits and
starts; but there is no settled principle. Whereas the
Spirit in a new creature is a spirit of meekness, and
curbs the passions ; a spirit of humility, and over-
throws pride ; a spirit of zeal, and fires the heart ; a
spirit of power, and arms the soul against sin; a holy
spirit, and therefore cleanseth it; an heavenly spirit,
and therefore elevates it.

Wherein doth this likeness to God chiefly consist ?

In a likeness of aflJections. God has no bodily
shape; we cannot be like him in our bodies, but in our
souls as they are spirits ; but if there be a dissimilitude
of affection and disposition, the unlikeness to God is
greater than a likeness to him in point of the natural
being. There is no draught of this image in us, unless
we have a conformity of afl^ections to God ; it is then
chiefly evidenced by a delighting in him, by faith and
love, wherein we bear a resemblance to him in his
aflfection to himself; by delighting in his image in
others, wherein we imitate his affection to his crea-
tures. He that loves not that image of God which is
visible, cannot love the invisible original, 1 John iv.
12, 20, and so having no likeness to God in his affec-
tion, can have no likeness to him in his nature. And
the apostle positively affirms, that "he that loves is
born of God," 1 John iv. 7. The new creature ex-
tends its arms to every thing which hath a resem-
blance of that whose image it bears. The divine
nature is chiefly seen in the objects of the affections;
when they are set upon the same objects, and in a like
manner as God's and Christ's are. When we grieve
most for sin, for this grieves the Spirit; when we
desire most an inward holiness, this God most longs

160 THE NATUllE

for ; O that there were such an heart in them ! When
we hate sin as God hates it, because of the inward
filthiness; when we love grace as God loves it, be-
cause of its native beauty; when we can love God
and Christ above all the world, and other things in
order to him and his glory; when we can trust Christ
with all our concerns, as God doth trust him with his
glory; then, and not till then, there is an image of God
in us, which God values above all the world. When
the soul is thus touched and quickened by grace, she
can no more strip herself of the object and manner
of her affections, than she can of the affections them-
selves. And when she doth reach out herself to all
that is good, and hath a complacency in it, it is her
happiness, because it is the great likeness to the spring
of happiness. When we have the like aflJections with
God, we have in our measure a like happiness and
blessedness with God.

In a likeness of actions. Men by sin are alienated
from the life of God, by restoring grace then they are
brought to have communion with God in his life, to
live as God lives. By nature men live the life of beasts
and devils; by grace they come to live the life of
Christ. If he live then the life of God, he must be
conformable in his actions to the acts of God. No
nature is stripped of affections and actions proper to
it ; it would be else a picture without breath, a body
without motion, a lifeless colour. The divine image
is not a painted statue, but an active being. The
nearer any thing approacheth in its nature to the
fountain of life, the more of liveliness and activity it
must needs partake of The communicable perfec-
tions of God are instamped upon the soul as a pattern
to imitate, and as a principle to quicken. A new
creature acts like God ; as melted and inflamed gold
will act after the nature of fire, by the assistance of
that quality communicated by the fire to it; so doth
the soul by that divine quality it partakes of It is as
impossible that this image of God can produce any

OF REGENERATION.

161

thing but divine acts, as that the image of the sun in
a burning glass should produce a darkness and cold-
ness in the air. There will be the manifestation of
the life of Christ in the motions of our soul, as the
apostle speaks in case of sufferings for him there will
be in our bodies. Natural men are called the devil's
children, because they resemble him in nature and
works, driving on to sin, and delighting themselves in
their own and others' iniquities : so renewed men are
God's children, because they live the life of God, and
abound in the works of God. As there is the same
nature, and the same Spirit which Christ had, there
will be a following of him in his works: all creatures
of the same species have the same instinct, the same
nature, the same acts that the first creature of that
kind had originally in its creation. Grace being a
new excellency advancing the soul to a higher state,
endues it with a more noble kind of operation. No-
thing is lifted up to a more perfect state of being, but
in order to a more perfect manner of acting: if a beast
should be elevated to the nature of man, would you
then expect from him the actions of a beast still 1 And
can any have the implantation of the divine nature,
who hath only the actions of a man, which bear no
resemblance to God ?

This likeness to God consists principally in a like-
ness to him in holiness. It is only he that does right-
eousness, that is born of him. " If ye know that he
is righteous, ye know that every one that doeih
righteousness, is born of him." 1 John ii. 29. It is by
this the children of God are manifest from the children
of the devil, 1 John iii. 10, in doing righteousness. If
we are unlike to God in this, we are like him in
nothing ; God hath not a pretence of holiness, but a
real purity. He that hath not escaped the corruption
that is in the world through lust, is no partaker of the
divine nature; the apostle puts that as a necessary
qualification, 2 Pet. i. 4. If by afflictions good men
are partakers of God's holiness, much more by
14*

162

THE NATURE

regeneration. " He chasteneth us for our profit, that
we might be partakers of his holiness." Heb. xii. 10
If God aim in his corrections at the bringing his
people to partake with him in holiness, as a father
does at the reformation of his child, that he may be a
follower of his virtues ; much more does God aim at
it in regeneration, when a spirit of holiness is infused
into the soul. The new creation is a drawing this
excellency of God in the soul : if any attribute lift up
his head above another, it is this ; in this we chiefly
are to imitate him ; this is the greatest evidence of
the divine nature. By sin we come short of that
which is the glory of God ; by the renewing of the
soul we attain the glory of God ; that is, attain a state
of holiness, and at last a perfection of it, a communion
with him in holiness here, and a full enjoyment of it
hereafter. Whatsoever our fancies, our hopes, our
presumptions are, if this be not drawn in our soul, if
we have not an internal holiness, we are not new
creatures, and therefore not in Christ.

If regeneration be such an inward change, a vital
principle, a law put into the heart, the image of God
and Christ in the soul ; then.

How few in the world are truly new creatures ! Is
the law transcribed in many men's lives? Nay, can
we all read it copied in our own hearts? Cannot
many see the image of the devil sooner than the
image of God in their own souls ? Is not the law of
sin written in capital letters, and with many flourishes ;
when the law of God is written in characters hardly
legible, and crowded into a narrow room? How
many are changed from childhood to youth, from
youth to manhood, from manhood to age, and the old
nature still remaining in its full strength, and the body
of death more vigorous than twenty or thirty years
ago ! Changed years, and unchanged hearts, are a
very sad spectacle.

Profane men are numerous. None will offer to rank
the?!e in the number of new creatures. Such filthy

OF REGENERATION. 103

souls are no branches of Christ, nor habitations for
him ; we read of the devil in swine, but never of our
Saviour in swinish souls ; are such regenerate '( Can
brannbles be ever accounted vines, or thistles fig-trees 1
These rather look like heUish than divine creatures;
diabolical, not god-like natures. A devotedness to
the sins of the flesh is inconsistent with the circum-
cision made by Christ. *' Putting off the body of the
sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ," Colos.
ii. 11, that is, the body of sins which exert themselves
in the flesh or natural body ; whereas such have the
body of sin, with an activity in every member of it.
Is the image of Christ in such men? Is not he meek
as a lamb t Are not they fierce as lions 1 Is not he
holy, and they defiled with intemperance ? Did not
he labour for nothing but the glory of his Father, and
the salvation of souls 1 And they mind nothing but
the dishonour of God, and the destruction of them-
selves and others. Did not he do good to his enemies,
and they scarcely spare their friends? Alas, with this
contrariety, how can they pretend the image of Christ,
when they have nothing but what looks like the image
of his enemy, the devil ? Is not the gospel counted as
great a foolishness by such, as at the first times of
its publishing 1 Are not the great mysteries of God,
and the contrivances of eternity, entertained with
coldness, and sometimes with scoffs, and the word,
the great instrument of this change, disregarded ? Are
such new creatures, that contemn the very means to
attain it? Surely they are so far from being near the
kingdom of God, that they are in the very suburbs of
hell. Is a hugging base lusts against the light of
nature, a contempt of God's law and authority, the
nature of Christ 1 Were any such spots upon our
Saviour's garment? Is this, to be like him who was
holy, harmless, separate from sin and sinners?

Among professors is there much evidence of a new
creation! When men shall say, All that the Lord
speaks to us we will do, has not God as great occasion

164

THE NATURE

to say as he did of old, " O that there were such a
heart in the;n, that they would fear me, and keep my
commandments !" Deut. v. 24. We may find a
change of language in some, a change of outward ac-
tions in others ; but how few are there among many
who stand up before God with the breath of life? Here
and there a man or woman, wherein God may see the
image of his own nature. How few are they with
whom Christ can shake hands, and justly call them
his fellows ! Christ may be in the mouth, and the
devil formed in the heart; the name of Christ may be
upon them, and the nature of Christ not in them.
They may be born of the will of man in a religious
education, but not born of the will of God in a spiri-
tual regeneration. Is it not a graceless Christianity
in many men, a faith without holiness, a Christianity
without Christ? Regeneration is never without faith,
love, and righteousness ; they depend upon grace as
the property upon the form ; wherever the new crea-
tion is, these are, for they are the qualities created ;
wherever they are not, there is nothing of a new crea-
ture, let the pretences be never so splendid. There
may be a nearness to the kingdom of God by profession,
when there is no right to it for want of regeneration.
Instead of humility, according to our Saviour's pat-
tern, doth not pride compass men as a chain ? count-
ing that their ornament which is the strength of their
old nature. Instead of patience, roaring passions ;
instead of meekness, boiling anger; instead of love,
a glowing hatred. How few then are renewed ! But
few shall be saved, and therefore few regenerate.
How little is the report of a likeness to God believed
by the incredulous world ! How few are the strivings
of any towards heaven ! Most lie quiet without any
such motions like the dust on the ground, unless some
stormy affliction raise them a little toward heaven,
whence they quickly fall back to their old place.

It informs us, that a change of opinion is not this
new creature. It is not, if any man change his opin-

OF IIEGEMEIIATION. 165

ion from Gentilism to Christianity, he is a new crea-
ture; but if any man be in Christ, by a vital partici-
pation from union with hiin. As men generally place
saving faith in a mere assent, so they place the new
creation in a change of opinion, as well from truth to
error, as from error to truth, though there be no
spiritual knowledge of God, nor internal cordial
closing with the Gospel, nor practice of it. Such a
change may endue the head with a knowledge which
never gently slides down to the affections. It may
indeed have some influence upon the life, as this or
that principle comes nearest to, or is divine truth, and
is settled as an opinion in the soul; yet this great
change may not be wrought. That is but a change in
the head, this in the heart; that of opinion, this of
affection; that perfects the understanding, this both the
understanding and will and the whole soul. There is
a natural desire of knowledge, but a natural aversion
from grace; whence this change becomes easy, the
new creature change difficult. A hot contriving head
may have a cold and sapless heart. A head informed
by the knowledge of truth, may be without a heart
enlivened by the Spirit of truth. A head changed in
opinion only, will descend into the bottomless pit,
when the least grain of renewing grace shall not re-
ceive so much as a singe from those flames. A change
from error to truth, without a heart framed to the
truth, does but more settle a man upon his lees, and
makes him not only more regardless, but opposite to
a true change to God: it stores up wrath for him, and
his very judgment will be a witness for the condemna-
tion of his practice. The knowledge of God will
not justify, but condemn a practical denial of him;
but for all that, they are abominable. This new crea-
ture change is not from one doctrine to another, bare-
ly considered as doctrine; but a change to the gospel
in the main design of it, as it is "a doctrine according
to godliness," 1 Tim. vi. 3, as it may affect purity, and
direct the soul in its motion. And by the way, observe

166 THE NATURE

this ; whenever you are solicited to a change of opin-
ion, consider the truth of it by this rule, whether it
have a tendency to encourage and promote internal
godliness. Since this doctrine of regeneration was the
first gospel-lesson taught, to which all succeeding
truths refer as to their end and centre, the apostle
tells us what the issue of all such doctrines is, that
refer not to this, pride, doting about questions, envy,
strife, raihngs, and evil surmisings. A heap of
notions may consist with a body of death in its full
strength, but a spirit of grace cannot ; a notionalist
may speak great things, but a new creature acts them.
Great speculations only are but leaves without fruit,
like cedars that by their shadows may give a refresh-
ment, but have no fruit to fill the soul hungering after
righteousness.

Morality is not this new creature. Moral honesty,
freedom from gross vices, &c., I have before spoken
something of, showing it insufficient, when I handled
the necessity of regeneration; we cannot speak too
much against it, it being a soft pillow, from whence
many slide insensibly into destruction. How many
upon this account think themselves new creatures, who
are yet deeply under the image of Satan; and though
they have blown off some dust from the law of
nature, yet never had a syllable of the law of grace
written in their hearts. Nay, the image of the devil
may be more deeply engraved in a soul, whose life is
free from an outward taint. Profane men express
more of the beast; a civil and moral conversation may
have more of the devil and serpent within, in spiritual
wickedness.

Yet morality is to be valued. It is a comely thing
among men, a beauty to human societies, satisfaction
to natural conscience, security to the body, example to
others; men are to be applauded for it, and encouraged
in it. It is a fruit of Christ's mediation, left for the
preservation of human societies, without which the
world would be a mere bedlam; the works of kind-

OF REGENERATION.

167

ness, justice, mercy, love, pity, &c., are useful and
commendable. It is a thing which our Saviour loved,
yet not w^ith such a love as eternally to reward it; he
looked upon the young man with some affection,
Mark x. :21, but scarce upon the Pharisees without
anger and disdain.

Yet we must not set the crown belonging to grace
upon the head of it, and place it in a throne equal to
that of the new creation. It is too amiable for men
to be beaten off from it; yet with just reason we may
persuade them to arise to a higher elevation. It is a
curious paint, a delightful picture, an useful artifice,
but not a vital principle: a glow-worm is a lovely
light, yet it is not a star. We press not men to throw
otf morality, but to advance it, to exchange it for
Christ, that their moral virtues may commence Chris-
tian graces. It is an elevation near the kingdom of
God, not a translation into the kingdom of God ; it is
nature improved, not nature renewed; it is a well
coloured picture without a principle of life; an out-
ward resemblance, not an inward power; a form of
godliness; as a change that is made upon canvass in
the draught of a picture, but no change in it by the
conveyance of life. For,

It removes not the body of death. It is a cutting
away the outward luxuriances, not the inward root.
It removes the stench and putrefaction, not the death;
an embalmed carcass is as much dead as a putrefied
one, though not so loathsome. It removes not that
wherein the strength of sin lies, though it does some-
what of the stench of sin. It may check those de-
generate lusts inconsistent with the peace of natural
conscience, but not heal the corrupt nature. It may
be a change from scandalous to spiritual sins; from
vanity in the outward life, to vanity in the mind;
from debauched practices, to a vain-glorious and en-
vious spirit. " Henceforth walk not as other Gentiles
walk, in the vanity of their minds ; having the un-
derstanding darkened, being alienated from the life of

168

THE NATURE

God." Eph. iv. 17, 18. By the gentiles from whom
the apostle would have the Ephesians differenced, he
means not the lower sort, but the whole rank, verse
21; there was a truth in Jesus w^hich they had been
taught; he makes no distinction between the looser
rabble, and the professors of wisdom, whom he calls
fools, Rom. i. 22; the followers of the divine (as they
called them) philosophers, were alienated from the
life of God, and walked in the vanity of their minds.
The new man he exhorts them to put on, was another
kind of thing than what the greatest moralists among
the heathen were acquainted with. It was at best
human, nol divine; an old nature purified, not a new
implanted; or as the apostle phraseth it, a walking in
the vanity of their mind, in the darkness of their un-
derstandings, though not in a vanity of gross actions.
It can never remove that body of death which was
introduced into the world, while this outward morality
stood. What immorality against the light of nature
do you find in Adam? He did break a positive com-
mand in eating the forbidden fruit; you find nothing
of drunkenness, lying, swearing; his great sin was in-
ward pride and unbelief; nothing of those sins, the
freedom from which you boast of, and rest on. Some
would make Adam guilty of the breach of every com-
mand in the moral law; virtually I confess they may;
expressly I do not see how they can; and also vir-
tually the highest mere moralist is guilty of the breach
ef the whole; yet all his moraUty after the breach of
this one command, could not preserve him in Para-
dise; nor all the morality without a new nature, re-
store you to it. You may have Adam's morality with
Adam's corruption; a freedom from gross vices, with
a heap of spiritual sins in your hearts, as Adam had;
but not a true righteousness without the new Adam,
the quickening Spirit.

Therefore the highest morality, without a new crea-
tion, is but flesh : all men out of Christ agree in a
fleshly nature. It is the highest thing in the rank of

OF REGENERATION. 109

flesh, but it is not yet mounted to spirit. Water
heated to the highest pitch, is but water still ; and
moraUty in the greatest elevation of it, is but refined
flesh; an old nature in a higher fornn. A profane
man reduced to a philosophical morality, is putrefied
flesh reduced to some sweetness, endued with a fresh
colour, but wanting life as much as before: it is an
old nature new mended. But a new creature is
Christ formed in the soul. Moral virtue colours the
skin, renewing grace enlivens the heart; that changes
the outward actions, this the inward affections; that
paints the man, this quickens him; that is a change
indeed in the flesh, not of the flesh into spirit ; it is a
new action, not a new creation. There is a difference
indeed among men in this respect; as there is of
cleanly lambs from a filthy swine, or a ravenous wolf,
yet both are in the rank of beasts. There seems to
be a difference in the wickedness and malice of devils.
Our Saviour tells us of a kind that are "not cast out
but by fasting and prayer," Matt. xvii. 21 ; intimat-
ing, that there are other kinds of them, not alto-
gether so bad, or so strong ; yet all agreeing in one
common diabolical nature: as there is a diflference in
gracious men, one shining like a star, another of a
lesser light ; yet all agree in the nature of light, and
light in the Lord. Although there be a diflference
among men in point of moral virtue, yet all agree in
the nature of flesh; "That which is born of the flesh,
is flesh," John iii. 6. Let it be what it will, a Nico-
demus as well as Judas, it is flesh, a more refined
sensuality, an animal life.

It must needs be diflferenced from the new creature,
because its birth is different. Moral virtue is gained
by human industry, natural strength, frequent exer-
cises : it is made up of habits, engendered by frequent
acts. But regeneration is an habit infused, which
grows not upon the stock of nature, nor is it brought
forth by the strength of nature : for man being flesh,
cannot prepare himself to it. That may be the fruit

15

170 THE NATURE

of education, example, philosophy, this of the Spirit,
that is a fruit of God's common grace, this of his
special grace : that grows upon the stock of self-love,
not from the root of faith and a divine affection: that
is like a wild flower in the field, brought forth by the
strength of nature ; this like a flower in the garden,
transplanted from heaven, derived from Christ, set and
watered by the Spirit. And therefore the other, being
but the work of nature, cannot bear the characters of
that excellency, which the affections planted by the
Spirit do. That is the product of reason, this of the
Spirit ; that is the awakening of natural light, this the
breaking out of spiritual light and love upon it; that is
the excitation of an old principle, this the infusion of
a new ; that a rising from sleep by the jog of con-
science, this a rising from death by the breath of the
Spirit, working a deep contrition, and making all new.

It differs from the new creature in regard of the
contractedness of the one, and the extensiveness of the
other. That is in part a purifying of the flesh, this a
purging both of flesh and spirit ; that binds the hands,
this clears the heart ; that purgeth the body, this every
part of the soul ; that, at the best, is but oil in the
lamp of life, this oil both in lamp and vessel ; that is a
change of outward postures, modes, and fashions of
walking, this of nature, heart, and spirit ; that seems
to be a dislike of some sins, this of all. If any thing
in moral honesty be given to God, it is but a certain
part ; the greatest and best is kept back from him.
That may be a casting away some iniquity, but not
making a new heart, when both are commanded to-
gether. " Cast away from you all your transgressions,
and make you a new heart and a new spirit," Ezek.
xviii. 31. That is a casting away the loathsome
works of the flesh, this a new root to bring forth the
fruits of the Spirit.

It differs from the new creature in the immediate
principle of it, and its tendency. That is a cleansing
the outward flesh in the fear of man, out of reverence

OF REGENERATION. 171

to superiors, as it is said of Jehoash, he did that which
was right, while he was under the awful instructions
of Jehoiada, 2 Kings xii. 2. This is a " perfecting
holiness in the fear of God," 2 Cor. vii. 1. That is an
outward refornnation from the hearing of the word ;
some acts materially performed from the newness of
the thing, this from a judicious and hearty approba-
tion of the law and will of God : that ariseth from a
natural love to reason justice, equity, this consists of
love to God ; that avoids some sins, because they are
loathsome, this because they are sinful; that tends not
to God for himself, but for something extraneous to
him : it is an acting for self, not for the praise of God.
The actions of unregenerate morality, as well as loath-
some profaneness, are to gratify the flesh in some part
of it ; they all meet in that point, as the clearest brooks,
as well as the most rapid and muddy streams run to
feed the sea.

Well then, deceive not yourselves ; conclude not
yourselves new creatures by your moral honesty : it
will not follow, that because you have some virtues,
you have therefore true grace ; but it will follow, that
if you are new creatures, and have faith and love, you
have all graces in the root ; and they will appear in
time, though they may lie hid awhile in that seminal
principle ; the greater virtues contain the less, but the
less do not infer the greater.

It will certainly follow from hence, that restraints
are not this new creature. Restraining grace, and
renewing grace, are two different things ; the one is a
withholding, "I withheld thee from sinning against
me." Gen. xx. 6 ; the other an enlivening, with a free
spirit against it. Restraint may be from a chastise-
ment, attended also with something of natural con-
science. Abimelech had some natural integrity in his
conscience, not to meddle with another man's wife,
which God acknowledges ; *' I know that thou didst
this in the integrity of thy heart ; for I also withheld
thee :" yet without this restraint by a punishment, this

172

THE NATURE

natural integrity might have been baffled by the temp-
tation. Restraints may spring from the law in the
hand of the magistrate, when it doth not spring from
the law of God in the heart. Men may love that'which
they do not act; at least, they may love it in others,
though not in themselves, for some extrinsic consi-
derations ; and wish they had as fair away to commit
it as others have. They may hate what they practise.
Do all that hear the word, love the word, hide it in
their hearts, and let it sink down into the bottom of
their souls 1 Do all that abstain from sin, loathe what
they abstain from? the restraints of many being barely
outward restraints, are no more arguments of rege-
neration, than God's withholding the devils by the
chain of his powerful Providence, is a sign of the new
creation of them. The damned are hindered from
committing many of those sins which were their plea-
sure upon the earth : it is not a change of their dis-
position, but of their condition. Neither punishments
in hell, nor punishments upon the earth, alter the
nature : though after lying a thousand years in hell,
they should have leave to dwell upon the earth again,
they would have the same inclinations, without an
inward change. Do we not see it daily in men's
afflictions, though the sense of the smart nips a little
those inclinations, yet when that sense is extinguished,
those inclinations bud forth afresh ? The bare pruning
a tree, makes it bear more fruit of the same kind, as
long as the root remains, rather than diminish it,
" Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt
more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole
heart is faint." Isa. i. 5. While the head is sick, and
the heart faint, though there may be a weakness to act
some sins under the stroke, yet afterwards the revolt-
ings are more violent many times than they were
before. The best that restraints work of themselves,
is but a cautiousness to sin more warily. The act
may be repressed, while the habit remains.

A serious fit of melancholy, or a sudden start of

OF REGENERATION. 173

affections, is not this work of the new creature. It is
an habit, a law written in the heart : not a transient
pang, or a sudden aflection ; not a skipping of fancy,
or a quick sparkling of passion ; but a new nature, a
divine frame spreading itself over every faculty; know-
ing God in our understandings, complying with him by
our wills, aspiring to him by a settled and perpetual
flame of our affections, rising heavenwards, like the
fire upon the altar, conforming ourselves to him in the
whole man, a denial of whole self for God. It is not
a working of the imagination, or a melancholy vapour,
which may quickly be removed, or a flash of joy and
love ; but a serious humility, a constant grief under
the remainder of corruption yet unextirpated ; a per-
petual recourse to God, and delight in him through
Jesus Christ. Are your affections raised sometimes
to God ? and are they not oftentimes raised higher to
objects extrinsecal to God ? Such affections may arise
rather from the constitution of the body, than altera-
tion of the soul. They are but " a taste of the heavenly
gift, and the good work of God," Heb. vi. 4, 5; a
taste, and no more; and but a transient work. The
object about which our affections are stirred, may be
divine ; yet the operation be merely natural. May not
sometimes affections be stirred much at the hearing
of the sufferings of our Saviour pathetically expressed,
yet only out of a natural compassion, from an agreeable
impression upon the fancy ? The story of Joseph in
the pit, and Christ upon the cross, may be heard with
the same workings'of passion. And may not the same
be done at a well humoured play, or at the hearing a
report of the lamentable death of a Turk, or Heathen,
pathetically expressed? These are but the workings
of natural spirits. Some affections are as movable
as quicksilver; upon the least touch, they sweat like
marble in moist weather, but resemble it also in hard-
ness. You do not find the affections to be the chief
seat of the law. This would be as to write letters
upon melted wax, or running water: but the tenor of
15*

174 THE NATURE

the covenant runs upon the mind; " I will put my law
into their minds," Heb. viii. 8, 10. And when God
works upon the mind, the affections will attend the
dictates of that, and the motions of the will. But a
work upon the affections only, is like water in a
spunge, easily sucked up, and upon the least compres-
sion, squeezed out. These may be where there is no
root of grace; they suddenly rise, and suddenly vanish.
When unrooted notions are received only into the
fancy, without any illumination of the understanding,
or determination of the will, the affections to them
will be as volatile as the fancy which entertained them.
Those in Matt. xiii. 20, 21, that received the word
with a sudden joy, were as suddenly offended for want
of a root: Anon with joy he receives it, by and by he is
offended. The word translated anon, and by and by,
is the same ; a lightening of affection, and a sudden
vanishing. Therefore this is not the new creature,
sudden affections, or a melancholy fit. The law of
God seated in the heart, mind and will, through a con-
stant course of affection, is a very good character to
judge of the new creature.

It informs us of the excellency of the new creature.
How excellent is this new creature ! It is a change,
a divine nature, a likeness to God, an excellency
above that of the greatest moralist under heaven.
The apostle calls it a change " from glory to glory,"
2 Cor. iii. 18, implying, that the first change wrought
upon the soul is glorious, and a new creature excel-
lent in its first make, more glorious in its progress,
inconceivably glorious when God shall put his last
hand to the completing of it. Regeneration is more
excellent than creation. It is more noble to be formed
a son of God by grace, than made a man by nature:
nature deforms, grace beautifies. By nature we are
the sons of Adam ; by the new nature the members
of Christ. As grace excels nature, and Christ sur-
mounts Adam, so much more excellent is the state of
a Christian, a real Christian, above that of a man.

OF REGENERATION. 175

Can there be a greater excellency, than to have a
divine beauty, a formation of Christ, a proportion of
all graces, suited to the imitable perfections of God?
Man is an higher creature than others, because he
hath an higher principle : a life of reason is more
noble than that of sense. To live by sense, is to play
the part, and live the life of brutes: to live by reason,
is to live the life of a man : but he that lives by the
Spirit, lives the life of God, answers the end of his
creation, useth his reason, understanding, will, affec-
tion for God, by whom they were first bestowed;
acts more nobly, lives more pleasantly, than the
greatest angel could do without such a principle. A
new creature doth exceed a rational creature, con-
sidered only as rational, more than a rational doth a
brute. The apostle makes a manifest distinction be-
tween the natural, or the rational, and the spiritual
man. 1 Cor. ii. 14, 15. A man with the richest
endowments, is no more to be compared in excellency,^
with a regenerate man, than the top of a craggy
mountain is with a well-dressed garden. That must
needs be excellent, the forming of which is the end of
all God's ordinances in the world, the end of the
Spirit's being among the sons of men, the end of
keeping up of mankind, the end of his patience in
forbearing his punishment upon contempt of the gos-
pel. The end of his preserving the world, is to form
Christ in the heart : and when the last new creature
is formed, God hath no more to do in the world.
When all that are given to him, shall come to believe,
Christ shall then come "to be admired in them."
2 Thess. i. 10. He doth not come therefore, till all
his chosen ones are brought in, to believe in him; for
then he would not be admired by all those that are
saints in his purpose. This, therefore, must needs be
excellent. One new creature is more excellent than
the whole unrenewed world, with their choicest orna-
ments. It was never pronounced of them, that they
were partakers of the divine nature.

J 76

THE NATURE

How much, therefore, should new creatures be
esteemed and valued ! Is any thing, next to God,
more worthy our esteem than that which bears his
image? Is any thing, next to a crucified Christ,
glorified in heaven, more worthy our valuation, than
Christ formed in the heart of a believer? What esteem
have men had for those who have had tempers like
to some heroes, some generous and useful men in the
world ? How much more respect should be given to
them that bear the character of God upon them, and
have communion with God, and Christ, and the Spirit,
in their nature ! If the dead image of God in a
natural man, ought to be respected, much more the
living image of God in a renewed man. If a picture
is to have respect, much more the life. To slight
them, therefore, redounds to the slighting that infinite
perfection, whose image it is. They are his living
images, sent into the world to represent him. He
then that disesteems them for that work, disesteems
him that wrought and engraved them, by the same
rule, that he that despised the disciples, despised
Christ, and the Father that sent him. He therefore
that despiseth you, despiseth not man, but God, who
hath also given us his Holy Spirit. Luke x. 16.
1 Thess. iv. 8. Yet no better must be expected here:
for the contracted spirit of the world, can love no
other birth but its own, no other similitude but what
draws near unto it: "If ye were of the world, the
world would love his own : but because ye are not
of the world, therefore the world hates you." John
XV. 19. The copy can expect no better usage than
the original. The nearer any approach in likeness
to Christ, the more they will be exposed to contempt
and scorn in the world.

If the new creature be such a thing as you have
heard, then the sin of a regenerate man, hath a greater
aggravation than the sins of any in the world. If you
slip into sin, the sins of the whole unregenerate world
have not so great a blackness. It is true, a new

OF REGENERATION. 177

creature may, and does sin: for though a new man
is created in him with all his members and essential
and integral parts, yet the body of death doth remain
still with all its members, and a seed-plot still, though
not in the same strength and fruitfulness as before:
for the apostle Paul doth not complain of a member
of death, or a piece of sin, but the whole body of it,
and the law of sin in its members. Rom. vii. It
seems it did reside there still : and so it doth in all the
renewed, though but faint and feeble, an old man
indeed, growing older every day, losing its teeth and
strength, less able to bite, less able to assault. Yet
sometimes a new creature may fall into sin, but not
without great aggravation. For other men sin against
natural, you against spiritual principles ; others sin
against a habit of common notion, you against a habit
of divine grace. A natural man sins against the light
of God in his conscience, a renewed man against the
life of God in his heart. Others sin against a Christ
crucified, and risen from the grave ; he sins against a
Christ new formed, and risen in his heart. Others sin
against the law of God in the word, he against the
law written in his mind and the word too. Such cast
dirt upon the Spirit's work, cross the end of so noble a
piece, bring a thief into the Spirit's temple, and grieve
the Holy Spirit, who instructed him better. When-
ever you sin, it must cost you more grief, because
your sins are more grievous, and you must grieve
the more for them, because the Spirit is grieved by
them. Grief for sin is a standing grace in the new
creature, and part of a likeness to the Spirit of God,
whatsoever some men dream to the contrary.

There is ground of joy unspeakable and full of
glory that results from this. Are you of this new
creation that I have been discoursing of? Then take
your portion of comfort. The jewel of comfort be-
longs only to the cabinet of grace. It is fit you should
have the comforts of heaven in your hearts, who have
a fitness for heaven in your nature. The day of the

178

THE NATURE

new birth was a happy day, to be brought from under
the rule of sin and death in it, to the rule of the Spirit
of God and life in it ; from bearing fruit to death, to
bringing forth fruit to God and everlasting life; if sin
be a torment to the womb that bears it, no joy can
reside in an unregenerate spirit; if sin be the soul's
rack in its own nature, grace must be its pleasure;
for it carries as much contentment and satisfaction in
its bowels, as sin doth disquietness and sorrow.

You have by the new creation, a relation to the
blessed Trinity. Such are the sons of God, the seed
of Christ, the temple of the Spirit : what a connexion
is there between you and the Three Persons ? God in
Christ, and Christ in you, that you may be made per-
fect in one. God in Christ reconciling the world ;
you in Christ reconciled to God. God in Christ, as
a father in a son ; you in Christ as members in the
body ; the Spirit in you as an informing and enliven-
ing principle. It makes you related to the Father as
his friends, by the ceasing of your enmity: to the Son,
as his property, for then you are his ; to the Spirit, as
the tutor of you, and inhabitant in you ; all implied,
Rom. viii. 8, 9, 10. By your former birth you were
children of wrath; by this, children of God; by that,
partakers of the nature of the destroyer, by this, par-
takers of the divine nature of your Creator, and Re-
deemer ; by nature you descended from the loins of
Adam, and thereby were related to all the corruption
of the world ; by the new birth, you are descended
from the Son of God, and counted to the Lord for a
generation, and thereby related to all the perfection
of heaven : as really descended from Christ by a
spiritual, as from Adam by a natural generation.
What an overflowing comfort is this ! To be a
king's son is a higher privilege than merely to be his
subject ; subjects have protection, sons aflection ; sub-
jects partake of the kindness of the prince, sons of his
nature ; as a son he hath a right to the inheritance of
the father, as a subject not. Men are subjects by

OF REGENERATION. 179

covenant, though born of others; sons by generation:
by being a new creature, the regenerate nnan acquires
a more noble relation, tlian by being a creature. That
relation that he lost by a prodigal corruption, is
restored to him in a more excellent way by his spiritual
regeneration.

THIRD GENERAL TOPIC.

THE

AUTHOR OF REGENERATION,

CHAPTER I.

God is the efficient author of Regeneration —Man cannot regene-
rate himself —His inability generally, does not consist in want
of faculties, or insufficiency of external revelations, but chiefly
in the will, and in innate and acquired habits of sin —Hence, there
is a total moral unfitness for the work, an unwillingness to it,
affections averse to it, and resistance consequent on the aver-
sion — The power of Satan enfeebles him for the work.

Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God— John i. 13.

From the text it appears most evident that God alone
is the prime efficient cause or author of regeneration,
for it will be found upon investigation that man in all
his capacities is too weak to produce the work of
regeneration in himself. This is not the birth of a
darkened wisdom, and an enslaved will. We affect
a kind of divinity, and would centre ourselves in our
own strength ; therefore it is good to be sensible of
our own impotency, that God may have the glory of
his own grace, and we the comfort of it, in a higher
principle and higher power than our own. It is not
the bare proposal of grace, and the leaving the will
to an indifferent posture, balanced between good and
evil, undetermined to the one or the other, to incline
and determine itself which way seems best to it. Not
one will, in the whole rank of believers, if left to
themselves. The evangelist excepts not one man
among them ; for as many as received Christ, as many
180

THE AUTHOR OF REGENERATION. 181

as believed, were the sons of God, who were born;
which believers, who had this faith as the nneans, and
this sonship as the privilege, were born, not of the
will of the flesh, nor the will of nnan, but of God.

God challenges this work as his own, excluding
the creature from any share as a cause. I will
sprinkle clean water upon you, I will cleanse you, I
will give you a new heart, I will put a new spirit
into you, I will take away the heart of stone, I will
give you a heart of flesh, I will put my Spirit into
you, Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 26, 27. Here I will no less than
seven times. Nothing is allowed to man in the pro-
duction of this work in the least ; all that is done by
him, is the walking in God's statutes by virtue of
this principle. The sanctifying principle, the actual
sanctification, the reception of it by the creature, th
removal of all the obstructions of it, the principle
maintaining it, are not in the least here attributed to
the will of man. God appropriates all to himself.
He doth not say, he would be man's assistant, as
many men do, who tell us only of the assistances of
the gospel, as if God in the gospel expected the first
motions of the will of man to give him an opportunity
for the acting of his grace ; you see here he gives not
an inch to the creature. To ascribe the first work in
any part to the will of man, is to deprive God of half
his due, to make him but a partner with his creature.
The least of it cannot be transferred to man, but the
right of God will be diminished, and the creature go
shares with his Creator. What partner was the crea-
ture with God in the creation? It is the Father's
work alone, without the hand of free-will. None
can come, except the Father which sent me, draw
them. John vi. 44. The mission of the Mediator, and
the attraction of the creature, are by the same hand,
Our Saviour could not have come unless the Father
had sent him, nor can man come to Christ, unless the
Father draw him : what is that which is drawn \ the will.
The will then is not the agent, it doth not drawitsejf,

10

18'sJ THE AUTHOR

The titles given to regeneration evidence it. It is
a creation ; what creature can give itself a being ? It
is a putting in a law and a new heart ; what matter
can infuse a soul into itself] It is a new birth ; what
man did ever beget himself? It is an opening the
heart; what man can do this who neither hath the
key, nor is acquainted with the wards '? Not a man
knows the heart, it is deceitful above all things, who
can know it ?

Scripture represents man as exceedingly weak, and
unable to do any thing spiritually good, " So then,
they that are in the flesh, cannot please God," Rom.
viii. 8. He concludes it by his " so then," as an in-
fallible consequence, from what he had discoursed be-
fore. If as being in the flesh they cannot please God,
therefore not in that which is the highest pleasure to
God, a framing themselves to a likeness to him. The
very desire and endeavour of the creature after this,
is some pleasure to God, to see a creature struggling
after holiness.; but they that are in the flesh cannot
please him. Can any good thing come out of Naza-
reth, was said of our Saviour 1 So may we better
say, can any good thing come out of the flesh, the
enslaved, possessed will of man ? If it be free since
it was captivated by sin, who set it free? Nothing
can, but the law of the Spirit of life, Rom. viii. 2. To
be sinners, and to be without strength, is one and the
same thing in the apostle's judgment, Rom. v. 6. 8.
" While we were yet without strength;" afterwards,
" while we were yet sinners." God only is almighty,
and man all impotency ; God only is all-suflicient,
and man all indigent. It is impossible we can have a
strength of our own, since our first father was feeble,
and conveyed his weakness to us ; by the same reason
that it is impossible we can have a righteousness of
our own, since our father sinned.

This weakness is universal. Sin hath made its
sickly impressions in every faculty. The mind is
dgrkjEph. iv. 18, he cannot know. 1 Cor. ii. 14, there

OF REGENERATION. 183

is a hardness in the heart, he cannot bend, Zech. vii.
12, there is enmity in the will, he cannot be subject,
Rom. viii. 7. As to faith, he cannot believe, John xii.
39. As to the Spirit, the worker of faith, he cannot
receive ; that is, of himself, John xiv. 17, acknowledge
Christ he cannot. 1 Cor. xii. 3. As to practice, he
cannot bring forth fruit, John xv. 4. The unright-
eousness introduced by Adam poured a poison into
every faculty, and dispossessed it of its strength, as
well as of its beauty : what else could be expected
from any deadly wound, but weakness as well as de-
filement ? The understanding conceives only such
thoughts as are pleasing to the law of sin ; the me-
mory is employed in preserving the dictates and de-
crees of it : the imagination full of fancies imprinted
by it ; the will wholly submitting to its authority ;
conscience standing with fingers in its mouth, for the
niost part not to speak against it; the whole man
yielding itself and every member to the commands of
it, and undertaking nothing but by its motions.

To evince it, there is not one regenerate man but
in his first conversion is chiefly sensible of his own
insufficiency. An universal consent is a great argu-
ment of the truth of a proposition ; it is a ground of
the belief of a Deity, it being the sentiment of all
nations. I do not speak of disputes about it from the
pride of reason, but of the inward experience of it in
any heart : what more frequent in the mouths of those
that have some preparations to it by conviction, than,
I cannot repent, I cannot believe, I find my heart
wicked and base, and unable to do any thing that is
good ] There have been instances of those that would
elevate the power of man, and freedom of will in
spiritual things, who have been confuted in their
reasonings, and acknowledged themselves so, when
God hath come to work savingly upon them. Indeed
this poverty of spirit, or sense of our own emptiness,
insufficiency, and indigence, is the first gospel grace,

184 THE AUTHOR

wrought in the soul, and stands in the front of all those
noble qualifications in our Saviour's sermon, as fitting
men for the kingdom of God ; " Blessed are the poor
in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," Matt.
V. 3. And God in the whole progress of this work
keeps believers sensible of their own weakness, thereby
to preserve them in a continual dependence on him;
and therefore sometimes withdraws his Spirit from
them, and lets them fall, that they may adhere more
closely to him, and less confide in themselves.

What kind of impotency or insufl!iciency is there in
the soul, to be the cause of this work '?

It is not a physical weakness for want of faculties.
Understanding we have, but not a spiritual light in it
to direct us ; will we have, but no freedom to choose
that which is spiritually good ; though since the fall
we have such a free-will left, which pertains to the
essential nature of man, yet we have lost that liberty
which belongs to the perfection of human nature,
which was to exercise acts spiritually good and
acceptable to God. Had the faculties been lost, Adam
had not been capable of a promise or command, and
consequently of ever sinning after. In Adam by crea-
tion we were possessed of it ; in Adam by his corrup-
tion we were stripped of it; we have not lost the
physical but the moral nature of these faculties ; not
the faculties themselves, but the moral goodness of
them. As the elementary heat is left in the carcass,
which yet is unfit to exercise any animal action for
want of a soul to enliven it ; so though the faculties
remain after this spiritual death, we are unfit to exert
any spiritual actions for want of grace to quicken
them. If man wanted faculties, this want would
excuse him in his most extravagant actions; nay,
without those faculties, he could not act as a rational
creature, and so were utterly incapable of sinning. Sin
hath untuned the strings, but did not unstring the soul;
the faculties were still left, but in such a disorder that

OF REGENERATION. 185

the wil and will of man can no more tune them than
the strings of an untuned lute can dispose themselves
for harmony without a musician's hand.

Neither is it a weakness arising from the greatness
of the object above the faculty. As when an object
is unmeet for a man, because he hath no power in
him to comply with it — as to understand the essence
of God ; this the highest creature in its own nature
cannot do, because God dwells in inaccessible light;
and it is utterly impossible for any thing but God to
comprehend God. If man were required to become
an angel, or to rise up and kiss the sun in the firma-
ment ; these were impossible things, because man
wanted a faculty in his primitive nature for such acts:
so if God had commanded Adam to fly without giving
him wings, or to speak without giving him a tongue,
he had not been guilty of sin in not doing it, because
It was not disobedience ; for disobedience is only in
what a man hath a faculty to do ; but to love God,
praise him, depend upon him, was in the power of
man's original nature, for they were not above those
faculties God endued him with, but very correspon-
dent and suitable to him : the objects proposed are in
themselves intelligible, credible, capable to be com-
prehended.

Neither is it a weakness arising from the insuffi-
ciency of external revelation. The means of regene-
ration are clearly revealed in the gospel, the sound is
gone into all the earth, Rom. x. 18, and the word of
the Lord is an apprehensible object, it is near us, even
ill our mouths, Rom. x. 8; "the commandment of the
Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes," Psa. xix. 8. If
the object were hid, the weakness lay not on the part
of man, but on the insufficiency of revelation ; as if
any thing were revealed to man in an unknown
tongue, there were an insufficiency in the means of
revelation.

But, it is a moral weakness ; the disability lies
chiefly in the will. Carnal lusts prepossess the heart,
16*

186 THE AUTIIOll

and make their party in the will against the things of
^od : so that inward propensities to embrace sin are
as great as the outward temptations to allure to it,
whereby the soul is carried down the stream with a
wilful violence. In this respect he is called dead,
though the death be not of the same nature with a
natural death ; for such a one hath not the natural
faculty to raise himself; but this is an impotency
arising from a voluntary obstinacy; yet the iniquity
of a man binds him no less powerfully under this
spiritual captivity, than a natural death and insensibility
keep men in the grave : and those fetters of perver-
sity they can no more knock off, than a dead man can
raise himself from the grave. By reason of those bands
they are called prisoners, Isa. xlii. 7, and cannot be
delivered without the powerful voice of Christ com-
manding and enabling them to go forth. *' That thou
mayest say to the prisoner, Go forth." Isa. xlix. 9.*
The apostle lays the whole fault of men's not receiving
the truth, upon their wills. " They received not the
love of the truth," 2 Thess. ii. 10 ; they heard it, they
knew it, but they loved not that which courted them.
It is not seated in any defect of the will, as it is a
power of the soul, for then God who created it would
be charged with it, and might as well charge beasts
to become men, as men to become gracious. Man as
a creature had a power to believe and love God ; to
resist temptations, to avoid sin, and live according to
nature ; but man as corrupted by a habit derived to
him from his first parents, and increased by a custom
in sin, cannot believe, cannot love God, cannot bring
nimself into a good frame ; as a musician cannot play
a lesson when he hath the gout in his fingers. When
the eyes are full of adultery, when the heart is full of
evil habits, it cannot cease to sin, it cannot be gracious,
2 Pet. ii. 14.

Now these habits are either innate, or contracted
and increased.

Innate. By nature we hav^e a habit of corruption^

OF REGENERATION. l^t

fundamental of all others that grow up in us. Man
made a covenant with sin, contracted a marriage
with it; by virtue of this covenant, sin had a full power
over him: what the apostle speaks of the marriage
between man and the law, Rom. vii. 1, 2, 3, 4, is ap-
plicable to this case: sin, as a husband, by way of
covenant, hath a powerful dominion over the will, and
binds it as long as sin Hves; and the will hath no
power to free itself, unless a higher power make a di-
vorce, or by the death of the husband: this is the cause
of man's obstinacy against any return to God, the will
is held in the cords of sin, Prov. v. 22. The habit
hath obtained an absolute sovereignty over it. " They
will not frame their doings to turn unto their God : for
the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them ;'*
Hos. V. 4; that is, in their hearts. This adulterous
or idolatrous habit holds their wills in chains, and ac-
tuates them, as a man possessed by the devil is ac-
tuated according to the pleasure of the devil ; the devil
speaks in them, moves in them, and does what he
pleases by them. And, which binds the will faster,
this habit is not in a natural man by way of a tyranny,
but a voluntary sovereignty on the part of the will;
the will is pleased and tickled with it. As a woman,
(to use the similitude of the Holy Ghost in that place,)
is so overruled by her affections to other lovers, that
she cannot think of returning to her former husband ;
but her unlawful love plays all its pranks, and riseth
with that force against all arguments from honesty
and credit, that it keeps her still in the chains of an
unlawful lust. So this is not a habit which doth op-
press nature, or force it against its will, but by its in-
corporation, and becoming one with our nature, has
quite altered it from that original rectitude and sim-
plicity wherein God at first framed it. It is a law of
sin, which having razed out the purity of the law of
nature, commands in a greater measure in the stead
of it. Hence it is as natural to man, in his lapsed
state, to have perverse dispositions against God, as it

188 THE AUTHOR,

is essential to hitn to be rational. And the chariot of
that weak remaining reason left us, is overturned by
our distempered passions; and the nobler part of man
is subject to the rule of these, which bear down the
authority both of reason and God too. That one sin
of the angels, howsoever complicated we know not,
taking place as a habit in them, hath bound them for
ever from rising to do any good, or disentangling
themselves from it, and may perhaps be meant by
those chains of darkness wherein they are reserved
and held to the judgment of the great day, having no
will to shake them off, though they have light enough
to see the torment appointed for them.

New contracted and increased habits upon this
foundation. Custom turns sin more into another na-
ture, and completes the first natural disorder. An
unrenewed man daily contracts a greater impotency,
by adding strength to this habit, and putting power
into the hands of sin to exercise its tyranny, and
increasing our headstrong natures in their unruliness.
It is as impossible of ourselves to shake off the fetters
of custom, as to suppress the unruliness of nature.
"Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard
his spots ? Then may ye also do good that are accus-
tomed to do evil." Jer. xiii. 23. The prophet speaks
not here of what they were by nature, but what they
were by custom; contracting thereby such a habit of
evil, that like a chronic disease, could not be cured
by any ordinary means. But may he not accustom
himself to do good? No; it is as impossible as for
an Ethiopian to change his skin. Those habits draw
a man to delight in, and therefore to a necessity of
sinning. The pleasure of the heart joined with the
sovereignty of sin, are two such strong cords as can-
not be untwisted or cut by the soul itself; no, not
without an overruling grace: it was a simple wound
m Adam, but such as all nature could not cure, much
less when we have added a world of putrefaction to
itc Te strongrer the habit, the greater the impotency:

OF REGENERATION. 189

if we could not raze out the stump of mere nature
upon our wills, how can we raze out the deeper im-
pressions made by the addition of custom ? If Adam,
who committed but one sin, and that in a moment,
did not seek to regain his lost integrity; how can any
other man, who by a multitude of sinful acts has
made his habit of a giant-like stature, completed many
parts of wickedness, and scoffed at the rebukes of
conscience 1

Let us now see wherein this weakness to renew
ourselves appears.

In a total moral unfitness for this work. Grace
being said to make us meet for our master's use, it im-
plies an utter unfitness for God's use, of ourselves,
before grace. There is a passive capability, a stump
left in nature, but no fitness for any activity in nature,
no fitness in nature for receiving grace before grace;
there is nothing in us naturally which doth suit or cor-
respond with that which is good in the sight of God ;
that which is natural is found more or less in all men.
But the gospel, which is the instrument of regenera-
tion, finds nothing in the nature of man to comply
with the main design of it: there is indeed some com-
pliance of moral nature with the moral precepts in the
gospel, upon which account it hath been commended
by some heathen; but nothing to answer the main in-
tendment of it, which is faith, the top-grace in re-
generation: this hath nothing to commend itself to
mere nature, nor finds an internal principle in man
that is pleased with it, as other graces do, as love,
meekness, patience, &c. For faith strips a man of all
his own glory, brings him from himself to live de-
pendently upon another, and makes him act for an-
other, not for himself; and therefore meets not with
any one principle in man to show it countenance. No
good thing dwells in the flesh, Rom. vii. 18, there may
be some motions lighting there, as a fly upon a man's
face; but they have no settled abode, and spring not

190

THE AUTHOR

up from nature. If the apostle, who was renewed,
found an unfitness in himself to do that which was
good, how great is that unfitness in a mere natural
will, which is wholly under the power of the flesh,
and hath no principle in it correspondent to spiritual
truth to renew itself? If this regeneration had any
foundation in nature, it would be then in most men
that hear the gospel, because there is not a general
contradiction in men to those things which are natural:
but since there is no good thing dwells in any flesh,
how can it be fit of itself to be raised into a conformity
to God, which is the highest pitch of the creature's
excellency ? The Scripture represents us not as earth,
which is fit to suck in showers from heaven, but as
stones, which only are moistened in the superficies by
the rain, but answer not the intendment of it. Ada-
mants are unfit to receive impressions; and the best
natural heart is no better — like a stone, cold and hard.
The soul with its faculties is like a bird with its wings,
but clogged with slime and clay, unfit to fly. A
barren wilderness is absolutely unfit to make a plea-
sant and fruitful garden. There is a contractedness
of the heart till God enlarge and open it, and that in
the best nature. Acts xvi. 14. Lydia, it is said,
worshipped God, there was religion in her, yet the
Lord opened her heart for the gospel. Can any thing
be more indisposed than a fountain that is always
bubbling up poison? so is the heart of man. Gen. vi. 5.
The least imagination, rising up in the heart, is evil,
and can be no better, since the heart itself is a mass
of venom. If renewed natures find so much indispo-
sition in the progress of sanctification, though their
sails be filled with grace, how great must it be where
corrupt nature alone sits at the stern ? As when Satan
came to tempt our Saviour, he found nothing in him,
no touchwood in his nature to take fire by a tempta-
tion : so when the Spirit comes, he finds no tinder in
man to receive readily any spark of grace. This un-

OF REGENERATION. 191

fitness is in the best mere nature, that seems to have
but a drop of corruption; a drop of water is as unfit
to ascend as a greater quantity.

There is not only an unfitness, but an unwillingness;
a senseless drowsiness of soul, loath to be moved. No
man doth readily hold out his arms to embrace the
offers of the gospel. What folding of the arms ! yet
a little more slumber, a little more sin. Man is
mere darkness, before his effectual calling: "who
hath called us out of darkness." 1 Pet. ii. 9. His
understanding is darkened ; the will cannot embrace
a thing offered, unless it have powerful arguments to
persuade it of the goodness of that thing which is
offered ; which arguments are modelled in the under-
standing ; but that being darkened, hath wrong notions
of divine things, therefore cannot represent them to
the will to be pursued and followed. Adam's running
away from God to hide himself, after the loss of his
original righteousness, discovers how unwilling man
is to implore God's favour. How deplorable is the
condition of man by sin ! since we find not one
prayer put up by Adam, nor can we suppose any till
the promise of recovery was made, though he was
sensible of his nakedness, and haunted by his con-
science : " I was afraid, because I was naked : and I
hid myself," Gen. iii. 10. He had no mind, no heart
to turn suppliant unto God, he runs from God; and
when God finds him out, instead of begging pardon
by humble prayer, he stands upon his justification,
accuses God to be the cause, by giving him the
woman, by whose persuasion he was induced to sin.
What glass will better discover the good will of
nature to God, than the first motions after the falH

There is not only an unfitness and unwillingness,
but an afiection to something contrary to the gospel.
The nature of outward objects is such, that they at-
tract the sensitive appetite, corrupted by sin, to prefer
them before that which is more excellent : the heart
is forestalled by an inordinate love of the world, and

1912

THE AUTHOR

a pleasure in unrighteousness, " they believed not the
truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness," 2 Thess.
xii. 12, a singular pleasure. Where the heart and the
devil agree so well, what liking can there be to God
or his will 1 Where the amity between sin and the
soul is so great, that sin is self, and self is sin, how
can so delightful a friend be discarded, to receive one
he thinks his enenny ? This weakness ariseth from a
love to something different or contrary to what is
proposed. When a man is so tied to that object which
he loves, that he minds not that contrary object which
is revealed by a fithght: as a man that hath his eyes or
his heart fixed upon a fair picture, cannot observe
many things that occur about him : or if he doth con-
sider it, he is taken so much with the things he loves,
that he seems to hate the other ; that though he doth
count it good, yet compared with what he loved
before, he apprehends it as evil, and judges it evil,
merely by the error of his mind, a practical, affected
and voluntary ignorance. So, though a man may
sometimes judge that there is a goodness in the gospel,
and the things proposed, yet his affection to other
pleasures, which he prefers before the gospel, causes
him to shake off any thoughts of compliance with it.
Now all natural men in the irons of sin, are not weary,
but in love with their fetters, and prize their slavery
as if it were the most glorious liberty.

There is not only unfitness, and unwillingness, and
a contrary affection to the gospel, but according to
the degrees of this aflfection to other things, there is a
strong aversion and enmity to the tenders of the gos-
pel. This enmity is more or less in the heart of every
unrenewed man, though in some it is more restrained
and kept down by education, yet it will appear more
or less upon the approaches of grace, which is con-
trary to nature : as a spark as well as a flame will
burn, though one hath less heat than the other ; there
is the same nature, the same seminal principles in all.
The carnal mind, let it be ever so well polished by

OF REGENERATIOX. 193

education, is enmity to God, and therefore unable,
because unwilling to be subject to his law, Rom. viii.
7. By nature he is of the devil's party, and hath no
mind the castle of his heart should ever come into the
hands of the right owner. It is in every faculty. Not
one part of the soul will make a mutiny within against
sin, or take part with God, when he comes to lay siege
to it ; when he stretches out his hands, he meets with
a rebellious and gainsaying people, Rom. x. 21. It
can converse with any thing but God ; look with
delight upon any thing but that which is the only true
object of delight. It can have no desire to have that
law written in his heart, whose character he hates.
All the expressions in the Scripture, denoting the
work of grace, import man's distaste of it: it is to
deny himself, crucify the flesh. What man has not an
aversion to deny what is dearest to him, his self; to
crucify what is incorporated with him, his Isaac, his
flesh ? The bent of a natural heart, and the design
of the gospel, which is to lay man as low as the dust,
can never agree. A corrupt heart, and the propo-
sitions of grace, meet together as fire and water, with
hissing. The language of man, at the proposals of
the gospel, is much like that of the devils, " what have
we to do with thee 1 Art thou come to destroy us?"
Luke iv. 34.

This aversion proceeds on to a resistance. No
rebels were ever stouter against their prince, than an
unrenewed soul against the Spirit of God; not a
moment without arms in his hand : he acts in defence
of his sin, and resistance of grace, and combats with
the Spirit, as his deadly enemy; "Ye always resist
the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye."
Acts vii. 51. The animosity runs in the whole blood
of nature. Neither the breathings of love, nor the
thunders of threatenings, are listened to. All natural
men are hewed out of one quarry of stone. The
highest rock, and the hardest adamant may be dis-
solved with less pains than the heart of man ; they
17

194 THE AUTHOR.

all, like a stone, resist the force of the hammer, and
fly back upon it. All the faculties are full of this
resistance: the mind with stout reasoning gives a
repulse to grace ; the imagination harbours foolish
conceits of it : in the heart, hardness and refusing to
hear ; in the affections, disgust and displeasure with
God's ways, disaffection to his interests, the heart is
locked, and will not of itself shoot one bolt to let the
king of glory enter: what party is like to be made
for God, by bare nature thus possessed? Nature
indeed does what it can, though it cannot do what it
would ; for though it resist the outward means, and
inward motions, yet it cannot efficaciously resist the
determined grace of God, any more than the matter
of the creation could resist the all-powerful voice of
God, commanding it to receive this or that form ; or
Lazarus resist the receiving that life Christ conveyed
to him by his mighty word ; God finds a contradiction
in our wills ; and we are not regenerate, because our
will hath consented to the persuasions of grace, for
that it doth not do of itself; but the grace of God dis-
arms our will of all that is capable of making resist-
ance, and determines it to accept and rejoice in what
is offered. Nature of itself is of an unyielding temper,
and removes not one scale from the eye, nor any
splinter from the stone in the heart ; for how can we
be the authors of that which we most resist and labour
to destroy.

Add to all this, the power of Satan in every natural
man, whose interest lies in enfeebling the creature.
The devil, since his first impression upon Adam, hath
had the universal possession of -nature, unless any
natural man free himself from the rank of the children
of disobedience. "The spirit that now works in the
children of disobedience ;" Eph. ii. 2 ; where the same
word is used for the acting of Satan, and likewise for
the acting of sin, in Rom. vii. 5, as for the acting
of the Spirit, Phil. ii. 13; in whom Satan works as a
spirit, as powerfully according to his created strength,

OF REGENERATION. 195

as the Holy Ghost works in the children of diso-
bedience. As the Spirit fills the soul with gracious
habits to move freely in God's ways, so Satan fills the
soul (as much as in him lies) with sinful habits, as so
many chains to keep it under his own dominion. He
cannot indeed work immediately upon the will, but he
uses all the skill and power that he hath to keep men
captive for the performance of his own pleasure, " who
are taken captive by him at his will," 2 Tim. ii. 26, or
for his will ; it is in that place a dreadful judgment
which God gives some men up to, for opposing the
gospel, taking away his restraints, both from the devil
and their own hearts ; but more or less he works in
every one that opposes the gospel, which every unre-
newed man under the preaching of the gospel does:
he is the strong man that keeps the palace, Luke xi.
21. Can the will of man make a surrender of it, at
God's demand, in spite of its governor? What power
have we to throw off the shackles he loads us with ]
We are as weak in his hand as birds in a fowler's ;
what will have we, since we are his willing slaves 1
The darkness of nature is never likely by its own
free motion to disagree with the prince of darkness,
without an overpowering grace, able to contest with
the lord as well as the slave : for by the fall he is be-
come prince of the lower creation, and holds it in
chains too strong for weakness to break. How great
then is man's inability ! How unreasonable it is to
think, that the will of man, possessed with such unfit-
ness, unwillingness, affection to other things, aversion
to the gospel, resistance of it, and in the devil's net,
can of itself do any thing towards its recovery, from
that which it counts no disease, or to turn to that which
it accounts its burden ? If unspotted and sound nature
did not preserve Adam in innocence, how can filthy
and crazy nature recover us from corruption? If it
did not keep him alive when he was living, how can
it convey life to us when we have not a spark of spirit-
ual life in us? Man was planted a noble vine, but

196 THE AUTHOR

turned himself into a degenerate plant ; nothing that
hath decayed, can by its own strength recover itself,
because it hath lost that strength whereby it could only
preserve itself.

CHAPTER II.

The meaos of grace do not effect Regeneration —Neither the law
or the gospel can effect it — Man's own moral works do not
produce the change — He does not actively co-operate with
God in producing it. The inability of man not to be pleaded
as an excuse for unregeneracy, because wilful and criminal —
How the means of grace are to be used.

Man by the help of instituted privileges doth not
produce this work of regeneration in himself, without
a supernatural grace attending them. Ordinances
cannot renew a man, but the arm of God which doth
manage them, renders them effectual : as the arm that
wields the sword, gives the blow. Means are the
showers of heaven, but they can no more make the
heart fruitful, till some gracious principle be put in,
than the beams of the sun, the dews of heaven, and
the water pots of the clouds, can make a barren ground
bring forth flowers without a change of the soil, and
new roots planted in it. All the spectacles in the
world cannot cure a man's eyes, he must have a visive
faculty to make use of them ; our faculty must be
cured, before we can exercise it about objects, or use
means proper to that faculty. All persuasions will not
prevail with a dead man : the fairest discourses, the
most undeniable arguments, the most moving rheto-
ric, will not stir or atFect him, till God take away the
stone from the grave and raise him to life. The re-
port of the prophets will do no good without the re-
velation of God's arm, Isa. liii. 1, because ail those
things do not work in a physical way, as meaicines,

OF REGENERATION. 197

which attain their end without any active concurrence
of the patient ; but in a moral way. The will and nature
must first be changed before those can do any good.
You can never by all your teaching teach a sheep to
provide for winter, as an ant does, because it has no
such instinct in its nature. If any thing were likely
to work upon a man, the most stupendous miracles
were most likely to produce such an efl^ect upon the
reason of man ; yet those supernatual demonstrations
without a man only, cannot make him believe a truth.
Miracles are a- demonstration to the eye, as well as
preaching to the ear : though they be confessed to be
above the strength of nature, yet all the spectators of
them are not believers, "But though he had done so
many miracles before them, yet they believed not :"
John xii. 37 ; many of those that saw our Saviour's
works did not believe his doctrine; nay, they irra-
tionally ascribed them to the devil, when they could
find no reason in the nature of them to charge them
upon such a score. The raising Lazarus from the dead,
was as high a miracle as ever was wrought; yet
though many of them believed, yet others did not, but
accused him to the Pharisees, who thereupon more
vigorously took counsel to put him to death, John
ii. 45 — 53, they acknowledged that he did many
miracles ; they had reason as well as others ; the
miracles were undeniable, as being performed before
many witnesses : the natural force of them upon all
reasons was equal, the considerations arising from
them unanswerable ; and yet they did not believe.
There were evil habits in the will not removed by
grace, which resisted the unanswerable reason of the
miracles. What made the diflerence between them
and those that believed ? Why did not the wills of
the enemies follow the undeniable reason, as well as
the wills of others'? Miracles may astonish men, but
cannot convert them, without a divine touch upon
the heart, 2 Kings xviii. 39. The people were aston-
ished by that wonderful miracle of fire falling from
17*

198

THE AUTHOR

heaven, and consuming the sacrifice, and licking up
the water in the trench ; and some reverential resolu-
tions were produced in them, they fell upon their
faces and said, The Lord he is God ; they showed their
zeal in taking Baal's prophets, and helping, or at least
suffering Elijah to slay them ; yet those people revolt-
ed to idolatry, and continued so till their captivity.
The easiness of faith upon the appearance and in-
struction of one risen from the dead, was the opinion
of one of the damned, " If one went to them from the
dead, they will repent ;" Luke xvi. 30: but this opinion
was contradicted by Abraham, ver. 31, who positively
asserts, *' If they hear not Moses and the prophets,
they will not be persuaded though one rose from the
dead." If their wills were obstinate against the means
God has appointed for their conversion, the same
wills so corrupted would be as obstinate against the
highest sort of miracles. If that then which is above
the hand of nature to perform, and bears the charac-
ters of omnipotence upon the breasts of it, does not
work upon men's hearts and wills of themselves, surely
nature itself cannot turn the heart to God.

The two great dispensations of God are law and
gospel ; neither of these can of themselves work this.

The law will instruct, not heal. It acquaints us with
our duty, not our remedy ; it irritates sin, not allays
it; exasperates our venom, but does not tame it;
though it shows man his miserable condition, yet a
man by it does not gain one drop of repentance. It
tells us what we should do, but corrects not the enmity
of our nature whereby we may do it. The apostle
takes notice of the enmity of man to the law, Rom. v.
6, 7, yet enemies, yet sinners. That yet^ may refer to
what he had spoken of the law in the chapter before.
Though men had had so much time from the fall to
recover themselves, and had so many advantages by
the law and the ceremonies of it, yet all those years
spent from the foundation of the world, had produced
no other effect than the weakening of them : as crea-

OF REGENERATION.

199

tures that are wounded, by their strugglings waste
their own strength. Yet sinners, till this time sinners,
whereby the load of sin which lay upon the world,
was made more heavy by the continual addition made
to those heaps. The offence did rather abound by the
law, than diminish. " The law was given, that sin
might abound :" Rom. v. 20, though it made a clear
discovery of the will of God, yet it rather aggravated
sin ; it added no power to perform that will. The
motions of sin were exasperated by it, and brought
forth fruit unto death : all the means by the law for
the repression of sin, did rather inflame it ; sin could
not be overcome by it, because the law was weak
through the flesh, that is, had not so much power as
sin had ; it was like a little water put upon fire, which
did rather enrage than quell it. Rom. vii. 8, 9. Sin
revived when the law came, it had a new life ; and the
apostle found himself utterly unable to overpower it.
There were motions of sin, not only a power in sin,
but an enraged power, which adds to the strength of
a person; sin slew him; taking occasion by the com-
mandment, and a dead man is wholly at the disposing
of his conquerors. The law was holy, it had an im-
pression of God's holiness upon it, Rom. vii. 12 —
14, there was also equity and conveniency in it, it was
just and good : and though these were considerations
enough to spur men on to rid themselves of this tyrant
sin, yet they could not, they had not strength enough
to do it, though it was holy, just, and good, yet it was
not strong enough to rescue them ; and the reason of
it, the apostle lays upon the diflerence in the nature
of both. " We know that the law is spiritual, but I
am carnal, sold under sin ;" there was an enmity in
his nature to it, and therefore he must lie under the
power of it, till a mighty deliverer stepped in to con-
quer it. Do we find any better effect of the ceremonial
law, which was the gospel in a mask, and which was
the instrument of all the regenerations among the
Jews 1 How few do we find renewed among them

200

THE AUTHOR

under that means which they enjoyed solely, and no
other nation in the world partners with them in it?
How frequent were their revolts, and rebellions, and
idolatries, inconsistent with regeneration, we may read
in Joshua and Judges. The inefRcacy of means ap-
pears evidently in that nation which had greater
advantages than any in the world besides : the cove-
nants, sacrifices, oracles of God, warnings by pro-
phets, yet so frequently overgrown with idolatry from
the time of their coming out of Egypt to the Babylonish
captivity, and ten tribes wholly cashiered for it.

The gospel cannot effect this change of heart.
Though the veil of ceremonies be taken off from it,
and it appears open faced ; yet till the veil be taken
off" the understandings of men, it will produce little
fruit among them, 2 Cor. iii. 14. The gospel is plain,
but only to him that understands, Prov. viii. 9. As
the sun is clear, but only to him that hath an eye to
see it. The gospel itself cannot remove the blindness
from the mind. The proposal of the object works no
alteration in the faculty, without some acting on the
faculty itself. The beams of the sun shining upon a
blind man, make no alteration in him. The Jews, to
whom the gospel was preached by our Saviour him-
self, could not believe, because God blinded their eyes,
&c. John xii. 39, 40. There must be a supernatural
power besides the proposal of the object, to take away
this blindness and hardness which is the obstruction
to the work of the gospel : though the Son of God is
come, and the gospel be preached, yet the understand-
ing whereby we know, is given us by him. '' And
we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given
us an understanding, that we may know him that is
true :" 1 John v. 20. The light of the gospel shines
upon all, but all have not an eye given them to see it,
and a will given them to embrace it. The mere doc-
trine of it doth not regenerate any man ; some have
tasted of the heavenly gift, that is, have had some
understanding of Christ, who is the heavenly gift, and

OF REGENERATION. 201

are partakers of some common illumination of the
Holy Ghost, yet are not regenerate. Was not the
gospel preached to the Jews, even by the mouth of
our Saviour, whom they crucified ? And was it not
preached to the Gentiles by the mouths of those
apostles whom they persecuted ? Were there not pro-
posals that suited the natural desires of men for happi-
ness ? yet did not many that seemed to receive it, re-
ceive it not in the love of it ? If God himself should
appear to us in the likeness of a man, and preach to us as
he did to Adam, if he did not overpower our hearts with
an inward grace, he would do us no good at all by his
declarations. We do not read of any work imme-
diately upon Adam, at the promulgation of the gospel
by God himself; though it appears, that afterwards
there was, by his instructing his sons to sacrifice, and
his expectations of a Messiah. But we certainly know
that our Saviour, God manifested in the flesh, declared
the gospel in his own person, and found no success,
but where he touched the heart inwardly by the grace
of his Spirit. All mere outward declarations are but
suasions, and mere suasion cannot change and cure a
disease or habit in nature. You may exhort an
Ethiopian, to turn himself white, or a lame man to go*
but the most pathetical exhortations cannot procure
such an effect, without a greater power than that of
the tongue to cure nature : you may as well think to
raise a dead man by blowing in his mouth with a pair
of bellows. Judas had enjoyed the best means that
ever were, yet went out of the world unrenewed : and
the thief upon the cross, who never perhaps was in
any good company in his life till he came to the cross,
nor ever heard Christ speak before, was renewed by
the grace of God in the last hour.

Neither can a man renew himself, by all his moral
works, before faith. Our calling is not according to
our works but ** according to God's own purpose and
grace," 2 Tim. i. 9. Paul, before his conversion, was
•* blameless as to the righteousness of the law," Phil.

202 THE AUTHOR

lii. 6, yet this was loss ; a bar rather to regeneration,
than a rheans to further it. For all this legal come-
liness, he ranks himself before his conversion, in the
number of the dead. " When we were dead in sins,"
Eph. ii. 5 ; not you, but we : putting himself into the
register of the dead. Whatsoever works a man can
morally do before faith, cannot be the cause of spiritual
life ; they are not vital operations ; if they were, they
were then the effects of life ; not the cause: the Scrip-
ture makes them the effects of grace ; *' created to
good works," Eph. ii. 10. What is an effect cannot
be the cause. The best works before grace are but
a refined sensuality, they arise from self-love, centre
in self-satisfaction, are therefore works of a different
strain from those of grace, which are referred to a
higher end, and to God's well pleasing. In all works
before grace, there is no resignation of the soul to
God in obedience ; no self-denial of what stands in
opposition to God in the heart ; no clear view of the
evil of sin ; no sound humiliation under the corruption
of nature ; no inward purification of the heart, but
only a diligence in an external polishing. All those
acts cannot produce an habit of a different kind from
them. Let a man be stilted up with the highest
natural excellency ; let him be taller by the head and
shoulders, than all his neighbours in morality, this
no more confers life upon him, than the setting a statue
upon a high pinnacle, near the beams of the sun, in-
spireth it with a principle of motion. The increasing
the perfection of one species, can never mount the
thing so increased, to the perfection of another species.
If you could vastly increase the heat of fire, you could
never make it ascend to the perfection of a star. If
you could increase mere moral works to the highest
pitch they are capable of, they can never make you
gracious, because grace is another species ; and the
nature of them must be changed to make them of
another kind. All the moral actions in the world,
will never make our hearts of themselves, of another

OP REGENERATION. 203

kind than moral. Works make not the heart good,
but a good heart makes the works good. It is not
our walking in God's statutes materially, which pro-
cures us a new heart ; but a new heart is in order
before walking in God's statutes, Ezek. xxxvi. 27.
Our regeneration is no more wrought by works of
our own, than our justification. The rule of the
apostle will hold good in this as well as in the other.
If it be of grace it is not of works ; otherwise grace is
no more grace, Rom. xi. 6 ; and faith is the gift of
God, not of works, lest any man should boast, Ephes.
ii. 9. And the apostle, Titus iii. 5, opposes the re-
newing of the Holy Ghost to works of righteousness.
He excludes works from being the cause of salvation:
and would they not be the cause of salvation, if they
were the cause of the necessary condition of salva-
tion?

As man cannot prepare himself to this work, nor
produce it, so he cannot co-operate with God in the
first production of it. We are no more co-workers
with God in the first regeneration, than we were
joint purchasers with Christ in redeniption. The
conversion of the will to God is a voluntary act ; but
the regeneration of the will, or the planting new
habits in the will, whereby it is enabled to turn to
God, is without any concurrence of the will. Some
say, the habit of faith is never created separate from
an act ; as the trees at the creation of the world were
created with ripe fruit on them , but the tree, with
the power of bearing fruit, and the fruit itself, were
created at one and the same time by God. Yet
though the habit be not separate at first from the act,
yet there is no co-operation of the creature to the
infusion of that habit, but there is to the act imme-
diately flowing from that habit: for either that act of
grace is voluntary or involuntary: if involuntary it
is not a gracious act ; if voluntary, as it must needs
be, since the tone of the will is changed, then the
creature concurs in that act: for the :i' t of believing

204 THE AUTHOR

and repenting is the act of the creature : it is not God
that repents and believes in us ; but we repent and
believe by virtue of that povs^er which God hath given
us. In the first act therefore, there is a concurrence
of the creature ; otherwise the creature could not be
said to repent and believe, but something in the
creature, without or against the will of the creature
But in the first power of believing and repenting,
God is the sole agent. Jesus Christ is the sun that
heals our natures, Mai. iv. 2 ; the rain that moistens
our hearts. " He shall come down like rain upon the
mown grass," Psa. Ixxii. 6- What co-operation is
there in the earth with the sun, to the production of
flowers, but by the softness it hath received from the
rain ? It would else be parched up, and its fruits
wither. The Holy Ghost doth by his own power
make us good trees ; but we afterwards, by virtue of
that power, work together with him, in bringing
forth good fruit. Yet this is also a subordinate, not
a co-ordinate working; rather a sub-operation than a
co-operation.

The state wherein man is at his first renewal,
excludes any co-working with God. The description
the apostle gives of a state of nature, excludes all co-
operation of the creature in the first renewal. " For
we ourselves were sometimes foolish, disobedient,
deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in
malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another."
Tit. iii. 3. And "among whom we all had our con-
versations in time past, in the lusts of our flesh, ful-
filling the desires of the flesh, and of the mind."
Ephes. ii. 2, 3. Every man is naturally taken up in
the fulfilling the desires of the flesh ; not only the Gen-
tiles, to whom Paul writes, but himself, for he puts
himself, and the rest of the Jews, in the number. In the
second verse it was "ye walked," in ver. 3, it is "we
all," and in Tit. iii. 3, " we ourselves." We who had the
oracles of God, that had greater privileges than others^
were carried out with as strong an impetus naturally,

OP REGENERATION. 205

vill grace stopped the tide, and after stopping, turned
.-t against nature. When the mind was thus prepos-
sessed, and the will made the lusts of the flesh its
work and trade, there was no likelihood of any co-
operation with God, in fulfilling his desires, till the
bent of the heart was changed from the flesh and its
principles. The heart is stone before grace. No
stone can co-operate with any that would turn it into
flesh, since it has no seed, causes, or principles of any
fleshly nature in it. Since we are overwhelmed by
the rubbish of our corrupted estate, we can no more
co-operate to the removal of it, than a man buried
under the ruins of a fallen house, can contribute to
the removal of that great weight that lies upon him.
Neither would a man in that state help such a work,
because his lusts are pleasures; he serves his lusts,
which are pleasures as well as lusts, and therefore
served with delight. There is naturally in man a
greater resistance against the work of grace, than
there is in the natural coldness of water against the
heat of fire, which yet penetrates into all parts of
the water.

But the impotence of man does not excuse him;
because the commands of the gospel are not difficult
in themselves to be believed and obeyed. If we were
commanded things that were impossible in their own
nature, as to shoot an arrow as high as the sun, or
leap up to the top of the highest mountain at one start;
the very command carries its excuse with it, in the
impossibility of the thing enjoined : but the precept of
regeneration, and restoring to righteousness, is easy
to be comprehended; it is backed with clear and
manifest reason, and proposed with a promise of hap-
piness, which is very suitable to the natural appetite
of our souls. To command a thing simply impossi-
ble, is not congruous to the wisdom, holiness, and
righteousness of God : it would not be justice but
cruelty: no wise man will invite another by any
promises to do that which is simply impossible ; no

18

206 THE AUTHOR

just judge will punish a man for not observing such
a precept; no righteous and merciful person would
impose such a command. But these commands of the
gospel are not impossible in their own nature, but in
regard of our perversity and contumacy. The com-
mand of righteousness was possible when first given,
and impossible since, by our own folly ; impossible in
our voluntarily corrupted nature, and by reason of
our voluntarily cherished corruption * the change is
not in the nature of the law, but in the nature of the
creature; and what is impossible to nature, is possible
to grace ; and grace may be sought for the perform-
ance of them.

Because we have a foundation in our natures for
such commands, therefore man's weakness does not
excuse him. It had been unjust for God to have
commanded Adam in innocence to fly, and give him
no wings : this had been above Adam's natural power,
he could not have done it, though he would fain have
obeyed God, because his nature was destitute of all
force for such a command. It would be strange if
God should invite the trees or beasts to repent, be-
cause they have no foundation in their nature to en-
tertain commands and invitations to obedience and
repentance ; for trees have no sense, and beasts have
no reason to discern the difference between good and
evil. If God commanded a man that never had eyes,
to contemplate the sun, we might wonder, since such
a man never had organs for such an action. But God
addresses himself to men that have senses open to
objects, and understandings to know, and wills to
move, affections to embrace objects. These under-
standings are open to any thing but that which God
commands ; their wills can will any thing but that
which God proposes. This command is proportioned
to the natural faculty, and the natural faculty propor-
tioned to the excellency of the command. We have
affections, as love and desire. In the command of
loving God, and loving our neighbour, there is only a

OP REGENERATION. 207

change of the object of our affections required. The
faculties are not weak by nature, but by the vicious-
ness of nature which is of our own introduction. It
is strange therefore, that we should excuse ourselves,
and pretend we are not to be blamed, because God's
command is impossible to be observed, when the
defect lies not in the want of a natural foundation, but
in our own giving up ourselves to the flesh, and the
love of it, and in a wilful refusal to apply our faculties
to their proper objects, when we can employ those
faculties with all vehemence about those things which
have no commerce with the gospel.

Because the means God gives, are not simply in-
sufficient in themselves. God doth afford men beams
of light: he makes clear discoveries, as it is, Rom. i.
19, he "hath showed it to them ;" "it is manifest in
them." He displays in their hearts some motions of
his Spirit, produces some faint desires. The standing
of the world under the cries of so many hideous sins,
is a daily sermon of God's kindness and patience, in
bearing up the pillars of it, and is a standing exhor-
tation to repentance. The forbearance, long-suffer-
ing, and goodness of God, lead to repentance. The
object is intelligible : the word is near us, in our
mouths, in our hearts: it is apprehensible in itself.
The revelation is as plain as the surface of the Hea-
vens. That men are not renewed, and turned to God,
is not for want of a sufficient external revelation, but
from the hardness of the heart; not from any insuffi-
ciency of the means, but the depravity and wickedness
of the soul, to whom those means are offered. The
commands and means of the gospel, are no more
weak in themselves, than the law was ; but weak
through the flesh, by reason of the inherent corruption
man hath fastened in himself. Would not the hun-
dredth part of any revelation of some worldly object,
agreeable to man's corrupt heart, be sufficient in itself
to put him upon motion to it, and embraces of it?
The insufficiency does not lie in the external means*

208 THE AUTHOR

for the gospel is an act of mercy and grace ; the call
is an act of kindness : it is clear to man, that God
offers ; it is clear that God will accept, if man will
embrace his counsel ; and shall this be said to be in-
sufficient, because man will reject it ?

Because this impotence in man, is rather a wilful-
ness than a simple weakness, therefore man's pre-
tended weakness doth not excuse him from the com-
mand. It is not a weakness arising from a necessity
of nature, but an enmity of will, whereby some other
apparent good is beloved above God, and some crea-
ture preferred before him. The deeper the habit of
obstinacy, the more inexcusable the person. What
a ridiculous excuse would this be, to say to God, that
I ought not to be obliged to restore myself to right-
eousness, and obey the command of the gospel, be-
cause I am of so perverse a disposition that I will
not obey, and will not be restored: or that God is
bound to restore to him that will to obey and renew
himself; otherwise he is guilty of no crime. The
first would be ridiculous, and both impious. What
hinders any man from being regenerate under the
call of the gospel, but a moral weakness, which con-
sists in an imperious inclination to evil, and a rooted
indisposition in corrupt reason and will, to believe and
repent 1 And hence the Scripture lays it upon the hard-
ness of the heart, Rom. ii. 5; and a rebellious walking
after our own thoughts. " I have spread out my hands
all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in
a way that was not good, after their own thoughts,"
Isa. Ixv. 2. We are impotent and cannot, because we
are rebellious and will not.

This weakness does not excuse from obedience to
this command, because God denies no man strength
to perform what he commands, if he seek it at his
hands. No man can plead, that he would have been
regenerate, and turned to God, and could not; for
though we have not power to renew ourselves, yet
God is ready to confer power upon us, if we seek it.

OF REGENERATION. 209

Where did God ever deny any man sufficient strength,
that waited upon him in serious and humble supplica-
tions, and conscientiously used the means to procure
it? A man cannot indeed merit grace, or dispose
himself for it, so that it must by a natural necessity
come into his soul, as a form doth into matter upon
dispositions to it. But if a man will put no obstacle
to grace, by a course of sin, would not God out of his
infinite bounty to his creatures, and out of that general
love whereby he would have all men saved, and come
to the knowledge of the truth, give him special grace?
Has not our Saviour made a promise in his first
sermon to the multitude, that God will "give good
things to them that ask him," with a " much more"
than men give good gifts to their children 1 Matt. vii.
11. They were not only his disciples that he preached
that sermon to, but the multitude; compare it with
Matt. V. 1, and Matt. vii. 28. Has not God de-
clared, that he delights not in the death of a sinner,
Ezek. xxxiii. 11, and does he not, out of his infinite
goodness, condescend to beseech us to be reconciled
to him? Will not the same infinite goodness bow
itself down to form a new image in them that use the
means to be reconciled and conformed to him ? Has
not our blessed Saviour already given a testimony of
his affection to such endeavours, in loving the young
man for his outward observation of the law, Mark x.
21, who wanted but one thing only to pass him into a
gracious state, the refusal whereof barred him of it ?
And shall not he have a choicer affection to those that
strive to observe the rules he has left in his gospel ?
Will he not be pleased with such motions in his crea-
tures towards their own happiness ? Will he not fur-
ther that wherein he delights ? Think not therefore to
justify yourselves at the bar of God for your sloth,
because you are too weak to renew yourselves. It
will not help you then. The question will then be
asked. Did you ever seriously beg it, as for your
lives? Did God ever desert you when you would
18*

210 THE AUTHOR

fight against sin, when you set yourselves seriously
and dependently on him for grace? God gives us
talents, but by our sloth we embezzle them. It is
upon that score Christ lays it, " Thou wicked and
slothful servant," Matt. xxv. 26; God has not promised
to furnish you with more talents, when you improve
not the talents you have already; non-improvement
of them cuts off all pleas men may make against God
upon the account of their impotence. As there never
was a renewed man, but acknowledged his regenera-
tion as a fruit of God's grace: so there was never any
man that can say, he did use his greatest industry in
trading with the talents God intrusted him with, and
God refused him the supply of his special grace. If
you have not a new heart and a heart of flesh, ask
your own hearts, whether you ever did seriously in-
quire of God to do it for you 1 God never fails them
that diligently seek him.

Use the means fervently. With as much ardour as
you set upon any thing of worldly concern: do it with
all your might, since the eternal blessedness of your
soul depends upon it; "Whatsoever thy hand findeth
to do, do it with thy might," Eccles. ix. 10; stir up
your souls to hear and meditate, as David does to
bless, "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is
within me, bless his holy name." Psa. ciii. 1, 2.
Employ all your faculties in this useful work; bring
your hearts as near to the word as you can, spur up
your aflections to what you meditate upon, check
your hearts when they begin to rove. Consider your
own particular case in any thing you hear; and let the
word be as a delightful picture in the view of your
minds continually; let every evangelical object excite
your inbred aflections.

Use the means dependently. Objective proposals
are not useless, because God has ordained them,
though they are not always successful, unless God
influences them. The means do not work naturally,
as a plaster cures a wound, or a hatchet cleaves

I

OF REGENERATION. 211

wood ; nor necessarily as firer burns ; for then they
should produce the same eflects in all, as fire doth in
combustible matter; but as God pleases to accompany
them with his grace, and edge them with efficacy.
They must be used with an eye to God; building with
one hand, and wrestling with God with the other:
men speed best in ordinances as they strive in prayer.
There are promises to plead before you come to hear.
*' In all places where I record my name, I will come
unto thee, and bless thee," Exod. xx. 24. The pro-
mise was made to the whole nation of Israel, the visi-
ble church, therefore, may be pleaded by every one
of them; and fix it upon your hearts, that as the death
of Christ alone takes away the guilt of sin, so the grace
of Christ alone takes away the life of sin, and the death
of nature.

Pray earnestly. Intreat God to send his grace;
beg of him to issue out a divine force and a quicken-
ing power, to enlighten your minds and incline your
wills. Lie at his feet, groan, wait till this work be
wrought in your soul: how do you know, but while
you are looking up to God, God may come down to
you ? Can a man be wounded and not cry for a heal-
ing remedy? Can he be shipwrecked and not cry out
for some vessel to relieve him ? Let such a voice
frequently issue from you, "What shall I do to be
saved]" Is there no balm for a wounded soul, no
hope for a distressed sinner? No city of refuge for
one pursued by wrath and vengeance ? Do you pray
for daily bread? Why do you not for special grace I
Are there no rational pleas you can urge ? Is there
not a fulness of arguments in the word ? Why do you
not then use those arguments God hath put into your
hands? Why do you not spread his own word before
him ? Put him in mind how his thoughts were busy
about the work of redemption, and that the regene-
ration you desire of him, was the great end of that,
and a thing pleasing to him ? Why do you not reason
with Godf To what purpose he sent his Spirit into

212 THE AUTHOR

the world, but to do this work in the hearts of men,
which you are now sohciting him for; and that you
come not to beg any ahns of him, but what he freely
offers himself? You may daily read such arguments
in the word, where a revelation is made of them ;
you may daily plead them : if you do not, it is not
your cannot, but your will not. Cry out of the blind
eyes you cannot unscale; the iron sinews you cannot
bend; the false heart that will not go right; and the
fallen nature which cannot reach so high as a holy
thought. God gives the Spirit to them that ask him,
not to the idle, lazy, and peevish resister of him and
his grace. If you have power to regenerate your-
selves, why do you not do it? If you have not, why
do you not seek it? Is the way of heaven shut to you ;
or rather, do you not shut your own hearts against it?
have you sought it earnestly, and can you say God
denies it to you ? No man can say so; there is a pro-
mise for it. " Draw near to God and he will draw
near to you," James iv. 8; he speaks it to sinners, as
it follows: "Cleanse your hands, ye sinners." You
can pray for other mercies, why not principally for
this particular determination of your wills to God,
above all other things? Lord, give me to will and to
do. Never leave off praying till God hath crowned
your petitions with success : and be encouraged to
seek to him, whose great business in the world was
to destroy the works of the devil, whose principal
work was the spiritual death of man. If you have
such earnest desires in your souls that you would
rather have it than the whole world, and esteem it
above all worldly wealth or honours; be of good
comfort, some of the rubbish of nature is removed:
the steam of such desires shall be welcome to God ;
and the Spirit's commission shall be renewed to
breathe further upon your souls. Desire as vehement
as hunger and thirst shall be satisfied, if our blessed
Saviour's promise be true, who never deceived any,
or broke his word. "Blessed are they that hunger

OF REGENERATION.

2ir

and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled,"
Matt. V. 6; a fulness attends a sense of emptiness,
accompanied with hungering desires. But I am afraid
few people put up their petitions to God for it; that I
may say, as Daniel of his nation: All this evil of
unrighteousness and sin is come upon us by our
depraved natures, yet made we not our prayer before
the Lord our God, that we might turn from our ini-
quities, and understand thy truth, Dan. ix. 13.

Nourish every motion and desire you find in your
hearts towards it. Have you not sometimes motions
to go to the throne of grace, and beg renewing grace
of God ? Do you not find such drawings in your con-
sciences 1 Is there not something within you spurs
you on 1 Kick not against it, nor resist it, no, nor
smother any spark of an honest desire in your hearts ;
be constant observers of the lessons, your natural con-
sciences, or whatever any other principle sets you ;
natural notions are not so blotted, but they remain
legible, would men be more inward with themselves,
than abroad with the objects of sense, which draw their
minds from pondering that decalogue writ in their
souls. There is not the wickedest man under the
gospel, but hath sometimes more bright irradiations
in his conscience than at other times, but they are
damped by a noisome sensuality : he hath some strug-
glings against the solicitations of unrighteousness,
some assents upon the presenting of virtue ; for as grace
is not always so powerful in a good man as to stifle
temptation, so neither is corruption so powerful in a
wicked man as always to beat back those motions to
good, which rise up in his soul, whether he will or
no : as the law of the mind is not always so sovereign
in a gracious man, but that it is affronted by the law
of I he members : so neither is the law of the members
so absolute in a wicked man, but that it is somewhat
checked by the law of nature in the mind. Are there
not upon hearing the word, or reflecting upon your-
selves, some wishings, some inward desires which

Sl4

THE AUTHOR

partake of reason, and the nature of that faculty which
represent the necessity of it to you ] As there is
some kind of weak knowledge left in us since the fall,
there is also something of a weak desire ; cannot these
desires be improved and represented to Godi Why
is not the grace of God fulfilled in you ? Because you
persevere not in these desires, you quench the sparks
of the Spirit, and willingly give admission to Satan to
chase them out. Shut not your eyes then against
any light, either without or within you, which may
provoke God to withdraw this grace from you. How
do you know but upon using the means, praying
earnestly, observing inward motions, God may give
you an actual regeneration ? The neglect of these is
a just reason for God to refuse you any further gift ;
and may take off all things which you may think to
bring against him in your own defence. The use of
them has been beneficial to many, and no example
can ever be brought, that God hath condemned any
that conscientiously used the means of salvation.
Therefore I say again, if any man uses the means,
prays earnestly for this grace, observes the motions
of the Spirit in him ; he will not want a superadded
grace from an infinitely good, tender, and merciful
God.

CHAPTER HI.

God's exclusive agency in Regeneration demonstrated — The
Scriptures attribute the whole work to God. — God prepares the
heart for it, inspires faith, calls forth the acts of the new crea-
ture — The subject and end of regeneration show its author-
ship, so the weakness of means. It is evinced also by the pecu-
liar differences observable in the work.

From the foregoing considerations, it is fully proved
that man in all his capacities, is too weak to produce

OF REGENERATION. 215

in himself the work of regeneration; therefore God
alone is the prime efficient cause of this glorious work.

It is subjectively in the creature, efficiently from
God. Ezekiel's dry bones met not together of their
own accord, or by chance, but were gathered by God,
and inspired with life ; and not only the last act of
life, but the whole formation of them in every part,
he particularly owns as the act of his own power ;
and doing every part of it by degrees, they should
know by that admirable work upon them, that he was
God. " I will cause breath to enter into you, and
you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you,
and will bring flesh upon you, and cover you with
skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and
you shall know that I am the Lord." Ezek. xxxvii.
5, 6. This work as much discovers the glory of his
deity, and speaks him God in a more illustrious man-
ner than the creation of the world. We know him
to be the Lord Jehovah by his creation of the world ;
but a clearer knowledge of him in his power is added
by his regeneration of the soul. The sinews, flesh,
skin, all the preparations to grace are from God, as
all the preparation of that mass of clay, for the breath
of life in Adam, were from the power of God, as well
as the living soul itself. Most understand it of the
recovery of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon :
but certainly it has a higher import, and respects the
time of the gospel, and the renewing of life in the
soul of all the Israel of God.

Christ appropriates the work to God, and acknow-
ledges it to depend only upon his will. Had any other
cause been in conjunction with God, our Saviour
would not have deprived it of its due praise, nor with
so much thankfulness and amazement admired the
gracious pleasure of his Father, as he did, "At that
time Jesus answered, and said, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these
things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed
them unto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed

216 THE AUTHOR

good in thy sight." Matt. xi. 25. " At that time," aftei
he had been discoursing of the judgments upon them
for their refusal of the gospel, worse than upon Sodom
and Gomorrah. It was God's pleasure not to reveal
it to them ; and God's justice to punish them for re-
fusal, because they wilfully refused it ; the outward
teaching was to all in the ministry of Christ; the in-
ward revelation only to few, according to the good
pleasure of God : Christ was the outward teacher, but
God the inward inspirer ; that others are not renewed
by him is not because he cannot, for he is Lord of
heaven and earth ; but because he will renew some
and not others : our Saviour refers it here only to the
good pleasure of God : he had erred much in ascribing
it to God, if he had had the assistance of any other
cause. Why this part of the clay he had created was
formed into the body of Adam and not another, had
no other cause but his pleasure : why this part of cor-
rupted Adam is formed into a temple, a divine image,
and not another, can be ascribed to no other but tha
same cause. He that formed Adam in the earthly
paradise, forms every believer in the church, the
spiritual paradise, and neither hath a co-worker nor
motive without himself.

The Scripture every where appropriates the work
to God. They are therefore called his Saints, Psa.
xxxiii. 9, as being sanctified by him, as well as
belonging to him; his people, "the branch of my
planting, the work of my hands," peculiarly his, as
being created for his glory, " That I may be glorified,"
Isa. Ix. 21. Their fitness by grace for glory is the
work of his hands. The vessels of wrath are fitted
for destruction, not by God, but by themselves, Rom.
ix. 22. But the vessels of mercy are prepared by
him, verse 23. " He had before prepared unto glory."
Adam lost himself, but whosoever of his posterity are
recovered, are wrought by God for glory, 1 Cor. v. 5.
It is observable that the apostle ascribes this in the
whole frame of it to God, " But of him are ye in

OF REGENERATION. 217

Clirist Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
righteousness," &c. 1 Cor. i. 30, because he would
remove all cause of boasting in the creature. Union
with Christ, engrafting in him, a new creation, putting
into another state, are all purely the work of God.
He hath no sharer in it. As Christ trod the wine
press alone, in the work of redemption : so God
engrafts men alone into this vine. As Christ was the
sole worker of redemption, so is God the sole worker
of regeneration; in him we are created, but solely
by God's skill; Christ the vine, and believers the
branches ; the one planted, and the other engrafted by
the same husbandman. It is by his own will, not
any other, that he begat us, James i. 18. Of his own
will ; his own good pleasure was the motive, his own
strength the efficient cause : hence he is called the
father of spirits, Heb. xii. 9, not so much (as some
interpret it, and that most probably) as he is the
Father of souls by creation, as by regeneration, which
adds a greater strength to the apostle's argument for
submission to him, and patience under his strokes.

And the Scripture affirms that.

All preparations to this work, as well as the work
itself, are of God. The removing indisposition, and
the putting in good inclinations, is the work of the
same hand : the taking away the heart of stone, as
well as the giving a heart of flesh. He removes the
rubbish, as well as rears the building ; razeth out the
old stamp, and imprints a new; destroys sin, which is
called the old man, and restores the new by the quick-
ening of the Spirit. The preparations of the dust of
the ground to become a human body, had the same
author, as the divine soul wherewith he was inspired.

All the parts of the new creature are of God. Faith
which is the principal part of it, is " the faith of the
operation of God," Col. ii. 12, not but that love and
other graces are wrought by God; but in this grace
which is a constitutive part of the new creature, God
comes in with a greater irradiation upon the soul,

19

218

THE AUTHOR

because it hath not one fragment or point in nature to
stand upon, carnal reason and mere moral righteous-
ness being enemies to it : where all other graces are
but the rectifying the passions, and setting them upon
right objects. Our knowledge of God is a light grow-
ing from his knowledge of us ; we know God because
we are known of him, Gal. iv. 9. The elective act
of our wills is but a fruit of his choice of us, " Ye
have not chosen me, but I have chosen you ;" John
XV. 16 ; our willing of him, is a birth of his willing us ;
our love, a spark kindled by his love to us. God first
calls us " my people," before any of us call him, " my
God," Hos. ii. 23. The moon shines not upon the sun,
till it be first illuminated by it. God first shines upon
us, before we can reflect upon him : he calls us, before
we can speak to him in his own dialect : our coming
is an effect of his drawing ; and our power of coming,
an effect of his quickening. Every member in Adam
was a fruit of his power as well as the whole body;
every line drawn in the new creature, is done by his
pencil, as well as the whole frame.

The acts of the new creature are of God. God
doth not only give us the habit of faith, but the act
of faith, " Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ,
not only to believe, but also to suffer for his sake :"
Phil. i. 29; by believing, is meant the act of believing;
as by suffering is meant not only the power of suffer-
ing, but actual suffering : as the fruits upon the trees,
at the first creation, were created, as well as the trees
which had a power to bear. The very attention of
Lydia to the gospel preached by Paul, was wrought
by God, as well as the opening of her heart. Acts xvi.
14. Our walking in his statutes is a fruit of his grace,
as well as the putting in his Spirit to enable us there-
unto : the very act of motion is made by the head and
heart: if there be a faiUng of spirits there, if any
obstruction that they cannot reach the indigent part,
the motion ceaseth. David acknowledged God his
continual strength in his holy pursuits, "my soul

i

OF REGENERATION. 219

follows hard after thee," Psa. Ixiii. 8, but what was
the cause 1 " thy right hand upholds me ;" his life and
power issued out from the right hand of God. The
graces of God's people stand in need of the irradia-
tions of God, like the Urim and Thummim, before any
counsel could be given by them.

God is the author of this work if we regard the
subject simply considered ; the heart of man. None
can work upon it but God, or have any influence to
cause it to exercise its vital acts. Angels, though of
vast power, cannot work immediately upon the heart
and will of any other creature, to incline and change
it by an immediate touch. All that they can do
towards moving the will, is by presenting some exter-
nal objects, or stirring up the inward sensitive appe-
tite to some passion, as anger, desire; whereby the
will is inclined to will something. But the stirring
up those natural affections in an unregenerate man,
can never incline his will to good ; for being the affec-
tions of the flesh, they are to be crucified. Angels
also may enlighten the understanding, not immedi-
ately, but by presenting similitudes of sensible things,
and conforming them in the fancy: but to remove
one ill habit from the will, or inchne it to any good,
is not in their power. God gave an angel power to
purge the prophet's lips with a coal from the altar,
Isa. vi. 6, 7; but that was done in a vision ; and a
symbol or sign only that his uncleanness was removed.
A coal could have no virtue in it to purge spiritual
pollutions from the spirit of a man. Neither can man
change the will; men by allurements or threats, may
change, or rather suspend the action of another ; as a
father that threatens to disinherit his son ; or a magis-
trate, that threatens to punish a subject for his de-
bauchery, may cause a change in the actions of such
persons; but the heart stands still to the same sinful
point, and may be vicious under a fair disguise. He
only that made the will, can incline and " turn it as
the rivers of waters ; the heart of the king is in the

220 THE AUTHOR

hands .of the Lord," Prov. xxi. 1; and so is every
man's heart kept in the hands of him that created it,
both cabinet and key. No man knows the heart ;
the heart itself knows not every thing which is in it.
God knows all the wards in the heart, and knows
how to move it. If a man could turn the heart of
another, it could only be in one or two points ; it
cannot be conceived how he should alter the whole
frame of it, make it quite another than it was before.
The spirit of man being the candle of the Lord, Prov.
XX. 27; not to give light to him but lighted by him,
can only when it is out, be relighted, and when it
burns dim, be renewed by the same hand. Or, sup-
pose for the present, he could do this, it must be with
much pains and labour, many exhortations and wise
management of him upon several occasions. But to
do this by a word, in a trice, to put a law into the
heart in a moment ; and give the hidden man of the
heart possession of the will, that a man knows not
himself how he came to be changed : this whole work
bears the mark and stamp of God in the forehead of
it. Men may propose arguments to another, and he
may understand them if he hath a capacity: but no
man can ever make another have a capacity who is
naturally incapable ; it is God alone can make the
heart capable of understanding, he alone can put a
new instinct into it, and make it of another bent : it
is he that renews the spirit of the mind to enable it
to understand what he proposes, and elevates the
faculty to apprehend the reason of it.

The end of regeneration manifests it to be the work
of God. It is to display his goodness. Since this
was the end of God in the. first creation, it is much
more his end in the second. What creature can dis-
play God's goodness to him, or give him the glory
of it, without first receiving it ? Goodness must first
be communicated to us before it can be displayed or
reflected by us. The light that is reflected back upon
the sun by any earthly body, beams first from the sun

OF REGENERATION. 221

itself. Both the subject and the end are put together :
" The beasts of the field shall honour me; the dragons
and the owls: because 1 give waters in the wilderness,
to give drink to nay people, nny chosen ; this people
have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my
praise," Isa. xhii. 20, 21. The Gentiles shall have the
gospel, who are beasts of the field for wildness,
dragons for the poison of their nature, owls for their
blindness and darkness. The waters of the gospel
shall flow to them, to give drink to their souls. This
people have I formed for myself; even beasts, dragons,
owls. If formed for himself, they could not be formed
but by himself, who only understands what is fit for
his own praise. How can such incapable subjects be
formed for such high ends, without a supernatural
power? " The branch of my planting, the work of my
hands, that I may be glorified," Isa. Ix. 21. Planted
by God, that God might be glorified by them. As
God only is the proper judge of what may glorify him ;
so he is the sole author of what is fitted to glorify him.
Nothing lower than the goodness of Gpd can instil into
us such a goodness, as to be made meet to praise,
serve, and love him ; such a holiness as may fit us to
be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light,
and enjoy him for ever. As infinite wisdom formed
us in Adam, and moulded us with his own hand to be
a model of his perfection ; so are we no less his work-
manship in Christ by a second creation to good works;
which as they are ordained by the will of God, so they
are wrought in us by the skill and power of God;
what is ordained positively by him and for him, is
wrought by him.

Now since the ends of this work are so high as to
fit us for his praise, his delight, and a fruition of him;
since it is to bring the interest of God into the soul,
set him up highest in the heart, who before was
trampled under our feet: enthrone him as king in the
soul, cause us to oppose all that opposes him, cherish

19*

222 THE AUTHOR

every thing that is agreeable to him, this must be his
work or the work of none.

The weakness of the means manifests it to be the
work of God. How could it be possible that such
weak means that were used at the first plantation of
the gospel, should have that transcendent success in
the hearts of men, without a divine powder? That a
doctrine attended with the cross, resisted by devils
with all their subtlety, by the flesh with all its lusts,
the world with all its flatteries, the wise with all their
craft, the mighty with all their power, should be im-
printed upon the hearts of men ; a doctrine preached
by mean men, without any worldly help, without
learning, eloquence, craft, or human prudence; with-
out the force, favour, or friendship of men, should get
place in men's hearts, without a divine inspiration,
cannot well be imagined. If it be said there were
miracles attending it, which wrought upon the minds
of men ; it is true ; but what little force they had in
our Saviour's time, the Scripture informs us, when
they were ascribed to Beelzebub the prince of devils.
Though miracles did attend it after the ascension of
our Saviour, yet the apostle ascribes not so much to
them as the means, as he does to the foolishness of
preaching; it was that which was the power of God,
1 Cor. i. 18 ; it was that whereby God saved them that
believe, 1 Cor. i. 21. But the greatest change that
ever was wrought at one time, was at the first descent
of the Spirit, by a plain discourse of Peter's, Acts ii ;
extolling a crucified God before those that had lately
taken away his life, those that had seen him die, a
doctrine which would find no footing in their reasons,
filled with prejudice against him, and had expectations
of a temporal kingdom by him : must not this change
be ascribed to a higher hand, which removed their
rooted prejudices and vain hopes, and brought so
many as three thousand over at once ? If there be
diversities of operations, it is the same God that

OF REGENERATION. i,J-i,i

works all in all," 1 Cor. xii. 6. He c< iVeys this
" treasure in earthen vessels, that the power might
appear to be of God, and not of men," 2 Cor. iv. 7,
Such weak means as earthen vessels, cannot work
such miraculous changes. Therefore perhaps it was
that the preaching of Christ in his humiliation had so
little success attending it, that nothing should be
ascribed to the word itself, but to the power of God
in it ; to evidence that success depended on the good
pleasure of God, who would not make his preaching
in person so successful as that in his Spirit ; which
appears by Christ's thanksgiving to his Father for
revealing these things to babes, and not to the wise ;
" even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight,"
Luke X. 21. Have you never heard of changes
wrought in the spirits of men against their worldly
interest, when they have been made the scorn of their
friends, and a reproach to their neighbours? Can the
weakness of means write a law so deep in the heart,
that neither sly allurements, nor blustering temptations
can raze out 1 That a law of a day's standing in the
heart, should be able to match the powers of hell, the
cavils of the flesh, and discouragements from the
world, when there are no unanswerable miracles now
to seal the gospel, and second the proposals of it with
amazement in the minds of men? The weakness of
the means, and the greatness of the difficulties, speak
it not only to be the finger but the arm of God, which
causes the triumphs of the foolishness of preaching.
When the proposal crosses the interest of the flesh,
restrains the beloved pleasure, teaches a man the
necessity of the contempt of the world, and that men
should exchange their pride for humility, the pleasure
of sin for a life of holiness ; for a man not only to
cease to love his vice, but extremely to hate it ; to
have divine flights, when before he could not have a
divine thought ; to put otf earthly aflections for
heavenly; and all this by the foolishness of preaching;

224 THE AUTHOR

it is an argument of divine power, rather than any
inherent strength in the means themselves.

The differences in the changes of men, evidence this
to be the work of God, and that it is from some power
superior to the means which are used. As God puts
a difference between men in regard of their under-
standings, reveahng that to one man which he doth
not to another; so he puts a difference between men
in regard of their wills, working upon some that have
known less, and not working upon some that have
known more ; some embracing it, and others rejecting
it. We may see

The difference of this change in men under the
same means. One is struck at a sermon, when multi-
tudes return unshaken ; why is not the case equal in
all, if it were from the power of the word 1 How suc-
cessful is Peter's discourse, closely accusing the Jews
of the murdering of their Lord and Saviour, which is
the occasion of pricking three thousand hearts ? Yet
Stephen using the same method, and close application
of the same doctrine, Acts vii. 52, had not one convert
upon record. While Peter's hearers were pricked in
their hearts, these gnashed with their teeth. The
corruption of the former was drawn out by the prick-
ing of their souls; the malice of the latter exasperated
by the cut of their hearts. What reason can be ren-
dered of so different an event from one and the same
means in several hands, but the over-ruling pleasure
of God? The reasons were the same, set off with the
same human power ; the hearers were many of the
same nation, brought up in the reading of the prophets,
full of the expectations of a Messiah ; they had both
reasons and natural desires for happiness, as well as
the other ; yet the one are turned lambs, and the others
worse lions than before ; the bloody fury of the one
IS calmed, and the mad rage of the other is increased.
The grace of God wrought powerfully in the one, and
lighted not upon the other. Two are grinding at the

OF REGENERATION. 225

same mill of ordinances, one is taken, and another left.
Man breathes into the ears, and God into what heart
he pleases.

The differences in the changes of men under less
means. One is changed by weaker means ; another
remains in his unregeneracy under means in them-
selves more powerful and likely ; some are wrought
upon by whispers, when others are stiff under
thunders : the Ninevites by one single sern^on from a
prophet are moved to repentance ; the inhabitants of
Capernaum, by many admonitions from a greater than
all the prophets, seconded with miracles, are not per-
suaded; some remain refractory under great blasts,
while others bend at lighter breathings. One man may
be more acute than another, of a more apprehensive
reason : yet this man remains obstinate, while another
becomes pliable. Whence does this difference arise,
but from the will of God drawing the one, and leaving
the other to the conduct of his own will, since both
will acknowledge what they are advised to, to be their
interest, to be true in itself, necessary for their good,
yet their affections and entertainment are not the same ?
Some of those Jews who had heard the doctrine of
Christ, seen the purity of his life, and the power of
his miracles, admired his wisdom, yet crucified his
person ; they expected a Messiah, yet contemned him
when he came; when the poor thief, who perhaps had
never seen one miracle nor heard one sermon of our
Saviour, believes in him, acknowledges him to be the
Son of God, whom he saw condemned to the same
death with himself, and dies a regenerate man under
great disadvantages. A figure, says one, of all the
elect, who shall only be saved by grace, and a clear
testimony of an outstretched arm of grace. Those that
our blessed Saviour admonished only as a doctor and
teacher, were unmoved, none stirred but those he
wrought upon as a Creator.

Difierence of the success of the same means in
different places. How various was the success of the

226 THE AUTHOR

apostles in several parts of their circuits? Paul finds
a great door of faith opened at Corinth, and in Mace-
donia, and his nets empty at Athens ; multitudes
flocking in at one place, and few at another. He is
entertained at Corinth, stoned at Lystra, in danger of
his life at Jerusalem; while the Galatians were so
affected with the gospel, that they could have pulled
out their eyes for him. The apostle was the same
person in all places; the gospel was the same, and
had a like power in itself; men had the same reasons,
they were all fragments from the lump of Adam ; the
difference must be then from the influence of the
divine Spirit, who rained down his grace in one place
and not in another; on one heart, and not on another;
who left darkness in Egypt, while he diffused light in
Goshen.

Difference in the same person. What is the reason
that a man believes at one time under the proposal of
weak arguments, and not at another under stronger]
Perhaps God hath stricken a man's conscience before,
and he hath undergone that work, shaken oft' those
convictions : he hath contended with his Maker, and
mustered up the power of nature against the alarms
of conscience ; struggled like a wild bull in a net, and
broke it, and blunted those darts which stuck in his
soul ; he hath afterwards been screwed up again, and
the arrow shot so deep, that with all his pulling he
could not draw it out : but what a divine hand holds
it in, in spite of all the former triumphs of nature?
How come convictions at last to be fixed upon men,
which many a time before did but flutter about the
soul, and were soon chased away? And God by such
a method keeps up the honour of his grace in men
after regeneration, and teaches them the constant
acknowledgment of his power in the whole manage-
ment. Do we not daily find, that the same reasonings
and considerations which quicken us at one time in
the ways of God, stir us not at another, no more than
a child can a mill-stone ? That we are quickened by

OP REGENERATION. 227

the same word at one time, under which we were dull
and stupid at another ? And the same truth is delici-
ously swallowed by us, which seemed unsavoury at
another, because God edgeth it with a secret virtue at
one time more than another ? Hereby God would
mind us to own him as the author of all our grace,
the second grace as well as the first. Upon all these
considerations this can be no other than the work of
God. Can a corrupt creature elevate himself from a
state of being hated by God, to a state of being de-
lighted in by him ? Satan's work none can judge it to
be ; the destroyer of mankind would never be the re-
storer; the most malicious enemy to God would never
contribute to the rearing a temple to God in the soul,
who hath usurped God's worship in all parts of the
world. Good angels could never do it, they wonder
at it ; the wisdom of God in thus creating all things
in Jesus Christ, is made known to them by it. Eph. iii.
9, 10. They never ascribed it to themselves; if they
did, they could never have been good, their goodness
consisting in praising God, and giving him his due.
Good men never did it ; the first planters of the gospel,
(whereby it is wrought,) always gave God the praise
of it, and acknowledged both their own action, and the
success, to be the effect of the grace of God, and upon
every occasion admired it. " It was the hand of the
Lord, and the grace of God." Acts xi. 21 — 23.

228 THE AUTHOR

CHAPTER IV.

Tue origin of Regeneration —It manifests God's mercy and
goodness — his Sovereignty — his Truth — his Wisdom — ^his Holi-
ness— his Power — Inferences from the whole.

We now proceed to inquire from what principles in
God regeneration flows, or what perfections of God
are eminent in this work of regeneration.

Mercy and goodness are the principal perfections
of God manifested in this work. Born not of the will
of man, but of God ; of the will of his mercy. Plato
thought that heroes were born of the love of God ;
divine love brings forth an heroic Christian into the
world; all outward mercies are streams of God's
goodness; but those are but trifles if compared with
this. There is as much of God in imparting the holi-
ness of his nature, as in imputing the righteousness of
his Son. We are justified by Christ, quickened by
grace, saved by grace ; grace is the womb of every
spiritual blessing. To be delivered from places and
company wherein we have occasions and temptations
to sin, is an act which God owns as the fruit of his
mercy : " I brought thee out of the land of Ur of the
Chaldees," Gen. xv. 7, an idolatrous place ; it is a
greater fruit of his goodness to be delivered from a
nature which is the seed-plot of sin. He heals our
back-slidden nature, because he loves us freely. It is
therefore called grace, which is not only goodness
and mercy, but goodness with a more beautiful varnish
and ornamental dress.

Therefore, in this take notice of the peculiarity of
mercy. Such a goodness that not one fallen angel
ever had, or ever shall have a mite of: neither did
mercy excite one good thought in God of new polish-
ing any of those rebellious creatures ; mercy cast no
eye upon them, but justice left them to their malicious
obstinacy.

OP REGENERATION. 229

That singular love which chose Christ for the head
chose some men in him to be his members : " chosen
us in him." Eph. i. 4. And the anointing which is
upon the head, is poured out by such a peculiarity
of love upon the members, not only by an act of his
power as God, but by an act of appropriated good-
ness, " thy God," Heb. i. 9. God anoints his fellows
with that holy gracious unction, as their God, not
only as God; for anointing him as the head, under
that particular consideration, he anoints also his fel-
lows, his members, under the same consideration
because he is as well their God, the God of the mem-
bers, as well as the God of the head, for they are his
fellows in that unction: the difference lies in the
greater portion of grace given to the human nature
of Christ. And the apostle Peter, 1 Pet. i. 3, intimates
in his thanksgiving to God, that God begat us as the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ; blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; the paternal
affection he bears to Christ, being the ground of the
regeneration of his people. Indeed it is a peculiar,
fatherly affection. In his mercy to the world he acts
as a rector, or governor ; in that relation he proposes
laws, makes offers of peace, urges them in his word,
strives with men by his Spirit, enduing them with
reason, and deals with them as rational creatures ; he
uses afflictions and mercies, which might soften their
hearts, did they not wilfully indulge themselves in
their hardness. This is his rectoral mercy, or his
mercy as a governor, and as much as his relation of
a governor can oblige him to. If men will not change
their lives, is God bound as a governor to force them
to it, or not rather to punish them for it 1 But in re-
generation there is a choicer affection, whereby besides
the relation of a governor, he puts on that of a Father,
and makes an inward and thorough change in some
which he hath chosen into the relation of children : a?
a father, who cannot persuade his son lying under a
mortal distemper, to take that physic which is neces-

20

*230 THE AUTHOR

sary for saving his life, will compel him to it, open his
mouth, and pour it in ; but as he is a governor of his
servant, he will provide it for him, and propose it to
him ; to do thus is kindness to his servant, though he
doth not manifest so peculiar an affection as he doth
to his son. God governs men as he is the Author of
nature; he renews men as he is the Author of grace:
he is the lawgiver and governor ; it doth not follow
that where he is so, he should be the new Creator
too; this is a peculiar indulgence.

As there is a peculiarity of mercy, so there is the
largeness of his mercy and goodness in this woi;k. It
was his goodness to create us, but a full sea of good-
ness made us new creatures, " Who according to his
abundant mercy hath begotten us again to a lively
hope." 1 Pet. i. 3. His own mercy, without any
other motive ; much mercy, without any parsimony ; .
not an act of ordinary goodness, but the deepest
bowels of kindness, an everlasting spring of goodness,
an exuberance of goodness. The choice love he bears
to them in election, cannot be without some real act;
it is a vain love that doth not operate: one great part of
affection is to imitate the party beloved : but since
that is unworthy of God to imitate a corrupt creature,
he performs the other act of love, which is to assimi-
late us to himself, and bring us into a state of imitation
of him, endowing us with principles of resemblance to
him. It is abundant mercy to love them ; it is much
more goodness to render them worthy of his love, and
inspire them with those qualities, as effects of his love
of benevolence, which may be an occasion of his
love of complacency.

All the grace and goodness God has are employed
in it. In the creation you cannot say, all the good-
ness of God was displayed, as not all his power, nor
all his wisdom : for as to his power, he might have
made millions of worlds inconceivably more beautiful
and more wisely contrived ; for though there be no
defect of wisdom and power, yet neither of those at-

OF REGENERATION. 231

tributes was exerted to that height that it might
have been : so for his goodness, he might have made
milHons more- angels and men than he did create,
with more illustrious natures ; for a man may con-
ceive something more than God has displayed in the
creation, as to the extensiveness of his perfections at
least. But in this God has displayed, as it may seem,
the utmost of his grace : for no man or angel can con-
ceive a higher grace than what God shows in this, of
beginning in man a likeness to himself, and perfecting
it hereafter to as high a pitch as a creature is capable
of; therefore called " unsearchable riches of Christ,"
Eph. iii. 7. A further good cannot be imagined or
found out than what is there displayed. Therefore,
the apostle Peter speaks of God, as effectually calling
us into his eternal glory by Christ, under the title of
" the God of all grace," 1 Pet. v. 10, which calling
includes all preparation for glory. All grace doth not
less fit us for it, than call us to it ; there is more grace
in fitting us for it than barely in calling us to it ; and
the call itself hath more of grace in it, than the giving
the possession of that inheritance you are called unto.
It is not so high a favour in a prince, actually to set
his royal bride in the throne with him, as to call her
to, and prepare her for so high a dignity. To prepare
a soul for it by regeneration, is an act of pure grace ;
to give it after a preparation for it, is an act of truth
as well as grace ; nothing obliged him to the first, his
promise binds him to the latter.

The freeness of his mercy is manifested in it. It is
as free as election, " who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings (of which regeneration is none of
the meanest) according as he hath chosen us in him."
Eph. i. 3, 4. It is as free in the stream as it is in the
fountain. Jesus Christ is as freely formed in us, as
we were freely chosen in him. It is his own mercy
not moved by any other ; as we do many things by the
will of others when our own are not free, in which aro
niixed acts. It is in regard of this freeness called

282 THE AUTHOR

grace. Supposing God would create man, and for
such an end as to enjoy blessedness, he could not
create him otherwise than with an universal rectitude;
because had God created him with a temper contrary
to his law, he had been the author of his sin. But
there was no necessity upon God to bestow new
creating grace, after he had stripped himself of the
righteousness of his first creation. And also suppos-
ing God will restore man to that end from which he
fell, and refit him for that blessedness ; he cannot fit
him otherwise than by restoring him to that righteous-
ness, as a means of obtaining that blessedness. Yet
both these are free, because the original foundation
of both is free. God might choose whether he would
create man when he was nothing, and choose whether
he would restore man when he was fallen. Yet there
is more freedom in this latter than in the former, in
regard of the measures of the new created righteous-
ness, and in regard of the immutability of it ; in re-
gard also of demerit. Adam's dust, before creation,
as it could merit nothing, so it had an advantage
above us, that it could not lie under demerit. But we
after the fall are in a state of damnation, children of
wrath; so that regeneration is not a creating us from
nothing, but recovering us from a state worse than
nothing. In regard that man was miserable, he was
capable of mercy; but, as he was a criminal, he was
an object of severity ; that is free mercy to renew any
man by grace, when he might have damned him by
justice, to work him for glory, when he had wrought
himself for damnation : the apostle therefore excludes
all works whatsoever from any meritoriousness in
this case, " Not by works of righteousness, which we
have done, but according to his mercy he saved us
by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the
Holy Ghost." Tit. iii. 5.

As mercy and goodness, so the sovereignty of God
is illustrious in this work. The covenant runs in a
royal style: 1 will put my Spirit into them; 1 will

OF REGENERATION. 233

give a heart of flesh, of my own free motion, and
fijood pleasure, like the patents of princes. God re-
serves this in his own power, to give to whom he
pleases. God renews when he pleases ; *' The wind
blows where it hsteth," John iii. 8. To some he
affords means, to others not: he deals not with every
nation as he dealt with Israel. In some he works by
means ; to others he gives only the means without any
inward work ; it is his pleasure that he works upon
any one to will ; his good pleasure that he gives to
any one to do. Some hear the word ; others the
Spirit in the word : some feel the striking of the air
upon their ear; others the stamp of the Spirit upon
their hearts. Who chose this rough stone to hew and
polish, and let others lie in the quarry 1 Who frames
this for a statue, a representation of himself, and leaves
another upon the pavement ? What does all this re-
sult from, but from his sovereign pleasure ?

No ultimate reason can be rendered for this dis-
tinction, but God's sovereignty. We can render an
immediate reason of some actions of God : why the
heavens are round, because it is the most capacious
figure, and fittest for motion : why the sun is the
centre of the world, as some think, because it may at
a convenient distance, enlighten the stars above, and
quicken the things below : why our hearts are in the
midst of our bodies, because they may more commo-
diously afford heat to all the members : so also, why
God loved Adam, because he saw his own image in
him : why he sends judgments upon the world, be-
cause of sin : why he saves believers, and condemns
unbelievers, because they receive the grace of Christ,
those reject it. We have not recourse immediately to
God's will for a reason ; the nature of the things them-
selves affords us one, obvious to us. But no reason
can be rendered of other actions of God but his good
pleasure : why he chose Abraham above other men,
and delivered him from Ur of the Chaldees ; why
Israel above other nations ; since all other men and
20*

23i

THE AUTHOR

nations descended from Adam and Noah, and they
were in their natures equally corrupt with others*^;
they were not in themselves better than others; nor
other nations worse than they. So in Esau and Jacob,
why the elder should serve the younger, since they
both issued from the same parents, were equally de-
praved in their nature, had original sin equally con-
veyed to them by their parents; no reason can be
rendered, but the will of God. So if it be asked,
why men are condemned? Because they do not
believe. Why do they not believe ? Because they
will not. God hath given them means and faculties.
If you ask, why God did not give them grace to be-
lieve and turn their wills ? No other answer can be
given, but because he will not. It is his free will to
choose some and not others. Election is put upon
his pleasure, " predestinated according to the good
pleasure of his will," Eph. i. 5, and the making known
the mystery of his will is put upon his pleasure,
" Having made known unto us the mystery of his
will, according to his good pleasure:" Eph. i. 9, as
God regards us absolutely, it is rather mercy than
his good pleasure. Why hath he changed our wills 1
Because he loved us, and bare good will to us in his
everlasting purpose, to which he was incited by his
own mercy; but if we compare ourselves with others,
and ask why he renews this man and not that ? Then
it is rather an act of the sovereign liberty of his will ;
for there cannot be the result of any reason from any
thing else : he extends his compassions to whom he
pleases. The apostle joins mercy and this sovereignty
of his will together, "I will have mercy on whom I
will have mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion:" Rom. ix. 15, he is so
absolute a sovereign that he will give no account of
these matters, but his own good pleasure. Why he
renews any man, is merely voluntary; why he saves
renewed men, is just; why he justifies those that
believe, is justice to Christ, and mercy to them ; but

OF REGENERATION. 235

why he bestows faith on any, is merely the good
pleasure of his will. The Pharisees believed not,
because they were not of Christ's sheep, John x. 26,
that is, they were not given to Christ by the Father,
as is intimated, verse 29. And the prosperity of those
which are given to Christ is resolved wholly into the
pleasure of God ; " the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand," Isa. liii. 10. In all our searches
into the cause of this, we mufet rest in his sovereign
pleasure ; our Saviour himself renders this only as a
reason of his distinguishing mercy, wherein himself
doth, and therefore we must acquiesce. Even so, O
Father, for so it pleaseth thee. Matt. xi. 27.

He may well do so, because he is no debtor to any
man in the way of grace. There is nothing due to
man but death, that is his wages ; the other is a gift,
Rom. vi. 23. '• To you it is given to know the mys-
teries of the kingdom of heaven, to them it is not
given," Matt. xiii. 11. Who shall control him in the
disposal of his own goods? Who shall say unto him,
what dost thou 1 Grace is his own treasure ; if he
gives the riches of it to any, it is his pleasure : if he
will not bestow a mite on any man, it is no wrong.
If any man hath given to him, it shall be recompensed
to him again, Rom. xi. 35. It is not unjust with God
to deny every man grace; it is not then unjust to
deny a great part of men this grace : Who hath en-
joined his way? saith Job; or, who can say, thou
hast wrought iniquity ? Job xxvi. 23. He is not to
be taught by man how to govern the world: neither
can any man justly blame him, if they judge aright
of his actions. Though every man is bound to endea-
vour the conversion of others ; and every good man
hatn so much charity, that he would turn all to right-
eousness if he could ; and though the love of God is
infinitely greater than man's, it cannot be argued from
thence that, therefore, God should renew every man.
This charity in man is a debt he owes to his neigh-
bour by communion of blood, upon which the law of

236 THE AUTHOR

charity is founded, which obHges him to endeavour
the happiness and welfare of his neighbour: but God
is free from the engagements of any law, but the
liberty of his own will ; he is under no government
but his own ; he has no superior, none equal with him,
to enjoin him his way, and to prescribe him rules and
methods. If he gives any favour to man it is his
pleasure ; if man improves it well, God is not indebt-
ed to him, and obliged' to give him more ; no more
than a father is bound to give his son a new stock,
because he has improved well the first he has intrust-
ed him with; it depends only upon his pleasure.

God's proceedings in this case do wholly declare
it. In the first gift of his people to Christ he acted
like a God greater than all in a way of supereminent
sovereignty; "My father which gave them me, is
greater than all," John x. 29. He acts as a potter
with his clay; he softens one heart and leaves an-
other to its natural hardness. He converts Paul, a
persecutor; but none of the other Pharisees who
spurred him on in that fury, and commissioned him
to it; he snatches some from the embraces of lust,
while he suflfers others to run their race to hell.
David, by grace, is made a man after God's own
heart; and Saul left to be a man after his own will:
some he changes in the heat of their pursuit of sinful
pleasures; others he wounds to death by his judg-
ments: the reason of the latter is deserved justice;
the reason of the other is undeserved pleasure. He
chooses the mean things of the world to be the high-
est in his favour, and passes over those that the
world esteems most excellent. Not many wise, not
many mighty, is his sovereign method. The amiable
endowments esteemed by the men of the world, have
no influence upon him. He acts in this way with
his own people: he gives sometimes to will, when he
doth not give presently to do: he distributes greater
measures of grace to one than to another: he some-
times excites them by his grace, sometimes lets them

OF REGENERATJON. 237

lie as logs before him, that he may be owned by them
to be a free agent. And further, it must needs be thus,
because God does not work in regeneration as a natu-
ral agent, and put forth his strength to the utmost : as
the sun shines, and the fire burns, unless a cloud
interpose to hinder the one, or water quench the
other; but as an arbitrary agent, who exerts his power
according to his own will, and withholds it according
to his pleasure. For there are two acts of his sove-
reign will, one whereby he commands men to do their
duty, promises rewards, and threatens punishment :
but the subject is to be disposed to do God's will of
precept. Here comes in another act of his sovereign-
ty, whereby he wills the disposing such and such
hearts to the accepting of his grace, and does not will
to give others that grace, but leaves them to them-
selves ; this we see practised by God almost in every
day's experience.

The truth of God is apparent in this work ; truth
to his own purpose. "Who hath called us with a
holy calling, according to his own purpose and grace,
which was given us in Jesus Christ before the world
began," 1 Tim. i. 9. Sovereignty first singles this or
that man out; and truth to that firm and immutable
counsel, and that resolve in his own mind, steps in to
excite his holiness, wisdom, and power, to make
every such person conformed to the image of his Son,
It was not from any truth respecting any condition
annexed to any promise he had made, which he
might find in the creature: for the apostle plainly
excludes it, "not according to our work :" for what
motion can our work in a state of nature cause in
God, but that of anger and aversion arising from
truth to this threatening, the condition whereof is ful-
filled by us; but not one mite of good fruit that could
as a condition challenge this great work at the hands
of the truth of God by virtue of his promise. His
truth to his threatening, would have raised up thoughts
of destroying men ; his truth to his promise carried on

238

THE AUTHOR

his design of effectually calling them. It is not an
engagement of truth to his creature, but of truth to
himself So that if you ask why he hath called Peter,
Paul, and others, since many better conditioned than
they have rejected the gospel, the answer is, because
he had so purposed in himself; and he is faithful and
cannot deny his own counsel, for that were to deny
himself, and that eternal idea in his own mind. " He
is faithful and cannot deny himself," 2 Tim. ii. 13; in
regard to his purpose, in regard of his absolute pro-
mise. Truth to his promise; his promise to his Son,
for so Tit. i. 2, is principally to be understood, " In
hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie, pro-
mised before the world began:" there was a donation
of some, made to Christ, and a donation of grace to
Christ for them, deposited in his hands as a treasure
to be dispensed to every one of them in their proper
time.

The wisdom of God appears in this work. The
secrets of wisdom shine forth in the great concerns of
the soul in Christ, who is made wisdom principally
to us in our sanctification, as well as righteousness
and redemption. Wisdom in the imputation of right-
eousness, in the draught of sanctification, and in the
perfection of it in a complete redemption, wisdom,
like a thread, runs through every part of the web.
The new birth is the great wisdom of the creature; by
this he becomes wise, since the Scripture entitles all
fools without it. The inspiration of this wisdom can
own no other but divine wisdom for the author. It is
his own wisdom ; for " Who hath been his counsellor?"
Rom. xi. 34. He works all things according to the
counsel of his own will, freely, wisely; a work of his
will, a work of his understanding, "Who works all
things according to the counsel of his own will," Eph.
i. 11, "That we should be to the praise of his glory,"
ver. 12, that the glory of the Father may shine out in
us. If all things are thus wrought with the choicest
counsel, much more the rarest work of God in the

OF REGENERATION.

239

world. If all things are wrought with counse^, be-
cause he will have a praise from them much more
that from whence he expects to gather the greatest
crop of glory. The bringing us to trust in Christ, is
for the praise of his glory; a glory redounds to him,
because there is nothing of our own in it, but all his ;
a further glory redounds to him, because it is in the
wisest manner. It is to the praise and glory of his
goodness in the act of his will: to the praise of the
glory of his wisdom in the act of his counsel. There
was a mystery of wisdom in the first selection and
singling out this or that person; a revelation of wisdom
in the preparations to it, and formation of it. If there
be much of his counsel in the minute passages of his
providence, in the lowest creatures, which are the
subjects of that providence, much more must there
be in the framing the soul to be a living monument
of his glory. It is not a new moulding the outward
case of the body, but the inward jewel wrapped up
from the view of men: the spirit of the mind, which
being more excellent, requires more of skill for the
new forming of it.

The nature of the new birth declares it to be an
effect of his wisdom. It is a building, a divine temple,
a spiritual tabernacle, for his own residence; "ye
are God's building,'' 1 Cor. iii. 9. Strength will not
build a house without art to contrive and proportion
the materials; skill is the chief requisite of an archi-
tect. The highest pieces of art, come from the most
excellent idea in the creature. The beautiful fabric
of grace is modeled by the wisest idea in God : that
which is glorious in the erection, supposes excellent
skill in the contrivance. Every renewed man is a
lively stone, polished and carved by the wise Creator
for an everlasting statue; it is he that hath "wrought
us up to the self same thing," 2 Cor. v. 5, polished us
and curiously wrought us, who were rough stones,
covered with the rubbish of sin. As a wise builder,
he lays the foundation in sound habits, whereon to

240 THE AUTHOR

raise a superstructure of gracious actions. The coun-
terpart in the heart is no less a fruit of his wisdom,
than the law in the tables of stone; wisdom in the first
framing of the law, wisdom also in the deep imprinting
of it. That which enlightens the eyes, and makes
wise to salvation, can be entitled to no other original
cause than divine wisdom. The soul is a rational
work of God. Surely then that which is the soul of
the soul, the glory of the creature, the preparation for
happiness, more pleasing to God than the brightest
nature, than the natural frame of the highest soul, that
which is the pleasure and delight, must be the fruit
too of infinite wisdom. Bare effects of power are not
the immediate objects of God's special delight.

The means of it declare it to be a fruit of his wis-
dom. Christ, the exemplar, has the treasures of wis-
dom; grace copied from it, is part of those treasures.
The gospel, the instrument, is the ** wisdom of God,"
as well as the "power of God," 1 Cor. ii. 7. Divine
skill framed the model, reared the building; what did
partake of wisdom in the contrivance, progress, all
the parts and methods of it, partakes of the same in
the inward operations of it upon the soul.

The manner of it speaks it to be so. In regard of
the enemies he has to deal with, there must be pru-
dence to countermine the deep and unsearchable plots
of the powers of darkness. As there is the strength
of sin within, the might of Satan without, as fit sub-
jects for his power; so there are the stratagems of
Satan, the subtleties and deceits of the flesh, as a fit
occasion for his Almighty skill against hellish policy.
In regard also of his workings upon the soul; he
works upon those that are so contrary to his design,
without imposing upon their faculties; he moves
them according to their physical nature, though con-
trary to their moral nature: he makes us do willingly
what we would not: he so tunes the strings, that
they speak out willingly, what naturally they are
most unfit for. The Spirit acts wisely in the reveal-

OF REGENERATfON.

241

ing to us the knowledge of Christ. "The spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him;"
Eph. i. 17; which may note the manner of his acting
in the revelation, which is the first work in the soul,
as well as the effect it produces, though I suppose the
effect is principally meant. Some question the wis-
dom of God in acting so upon the will, as not to leave
it to its own indifference in this change. What rea-
son is there to question his wisdom? Do not angels
in heaven admire God's wisdom as well as his grace,
who hath immutably fixed them to that which is
good ? Do they question the wisdom of God for so
happy a confirmation of them against that indiffer-
ence which destroyed some of their fellows by crea-
tion ? But is there not an evident art in this work, to
make the will willing, that had no aflfection to this
change ? To fit the key so to all the wards, that not
one is disordered ? To move us contrary to our cor-
rupt reason, yet bring us to that pass to acknowledge
we had reason to be so moved ? To move our facul-
ties one by another as wheels in a watch 'I To pre-
sent spiritual things with such an evident light, as
engages our understandings to believe that which
they would not believe before, and our wills to em-
brace that which our affections gainsay? It must,
therefore, be a fruit of divine skill, since it is a fruit
of divine teaching. John vi. 45.

There is a greater wisdom in it, than in the crea-
tion of the world. The higher the work rises, the
more skill appears. It is a divine art to make man
live the life of plants in his growth; the life of beasts
in his sense; the life of angels in his mind: more it is
then to make him live the life of God in his grace.
Man in his body, partakes of earth ; in his soul, of
heaven; in his grace, of the heaven of heavens, of
the God of heaven; the grace in the new birth is
nearer the likeness of God, than the figure of men
in the first birth; God therefore more observes the
numbers and measures in the second creation than he

21

242

THE AUTHOR

did in the first. Man was the most excellent piece in
the lower creation; therefore more of art in the
framing of him, than in the whole celestial and ele-
mentary world; the glorious bodies of sun, moon, and
stars, had not such marks upon them; the nearer re-
semblance any thing hath to God, the more of wis-
dom, as well as power, is signified in the make of it.

The holiness of God is seen in this work. The day
of God's power breaks not upon us in the change of
our wills, without his appearance in the beauties of
holiness. The Spirit is called a Spirit of holiness, not
only as he is the efficient, but as he is the pattern,
and like fire transforms into his own nature; for that
"which is born of the Spirit, is spirit. The law in the
tables of stone was an image; the law in the heart is
an extract of God's holiness. Our first creation in a
mutable state, was according to his own image, Gen.
i. 26. Our second creation is more exactly like him
in a gracious immutability. The holiness of Christ's
human nature was an effect of the holiness of God;
the holiness we have then in resemblance to Christ,
must be a fruit of the same perfection. If we are
renewed according to his image, it must be according
to his holiness. To be merciful and just, is to have a
moral image; to be holy, is to have a divine; the apos-
tle intimates this in his exhortation, we must be holy
in serving him, because he was holy in calling us.
"As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy,"
&c., 1 Pet. i. 15. In this respect, God calls himself,
not only a holy one, but the holy one of Israel. " I
am the Lord your holy one, the Creator of Israel,
your king." Isa. xliii. 15. He is not only holy in
himself, but displays his holiness in them, by an act
of a new creation. By Creator, is not meant, his
being the Creator of them, as he is of all, even of
wicked men, and devils; but implies a peculiar rela-
tion to them, as distinguished from others. He is the
Creator of devils, holy in his actions towards devils,
but not their holy one by any inward renovation, or

OF REGENERATION. 243

consecrating them to himself, as he is the holy one of
Israel. As he is a God in covenant, he is our God,
therefore our God, as he is a holy God, as well as he
is a powerful God, communicating the one as well as
the other in a covenant-way: therefore the prophet
Habakkuk joins them both together: "O Lord, my
God, my holy one," Hab. i. 12. His holiness is no
less necessary for the felicity of his people, than his
mercy and power. What happiness could his mercy
move, his wisdom contrive, or his power effect, with-
out the communication of his holiness ? Mercy could
not of itself fit a man for it, nor power give a man
possession of it, without holiness, attiring him with
ail those graces which prepare him for it. God, as
sovereign, chose us; as merciful, pardons us; as wise,
guides us; as powerful, protects us; as true, makes
good his promises to us; but as holy, cleanseth us
from our old habits, makes us vessels of honour, filled
with the savoury and delicious fruits of his Spirit, his
pleasant things. The implantation of grace in the
heart, is no less an effect of his holiness, than the pre-
servation of it is; which our Saviour intimates, when,
in his petition for it, he gives his Father rather the
title of holy, than of any other attribute. " Holy
Father, keep through thy own name." John xvii. 11.
The power of God appears in this work. "Since
the world begun was it not heard that any man
opened the eyes of one that was born blind," John ix.
32, neither was it ever heard that any man could open
the understanding of one that was born dark. Every
thing that pertains to life and godliness, of which re-
generation is not the meanest, is the work of Divine
power, " According as his divine power hath given
to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,
through the knowledge of him who hath called us to
glory and virtue," 2 Pet. i. 3; glory and virtue, that
is a glorious virtue : and the apostle adds, that this
calling was an efTect of a glorious power. When God
hardens a man, he only withdraws his grace. But a

244 THE AUTHOR

divine virtue is necessary for the cure of our heredi-
tary disease. There is no great force required to cut a
dead nnan; but to raise him, requires an extraordi-
nary powder. We may as w^ell deny this work to be
a nevi^ creation, a resurrection, as deny it to be an act
of divine power. There is a word that calls ; there is
also a power to work, " Our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power, and in the
Holy Ghost," 1 Thess. i. 5 ; that is, the power of the
Holy Ghost. There was not only grace in the word,
to invite, but the power of the Holy Ghost in it, to
overcome the heart. There is not only an act of an
almighty Spirit, but an act of his almighty power.
The hand of the Lord created the world, *' the heavens
are the work of his fingers," Psa. viii. 3, but grace
is the work of his arms, Isa. liii. 1. It may be said of
the first grace in the new birth, as it was of Reuben,
"Thou art my might, the beginning of my strength,
and the excellency of power," Gen. xlix 3. Though
ministerial gifts were as excellent as Paul's, whose
preaching was with demonstration and power, and
who knew the readiest way to men's hearts, if a man
ever did ; yet the " excellency of the power was of
God :" and when he brandished his spiritual weapons,
they were only " mighty through God," 2 Cor. x. 4.
Though the declaration was his, yet the working was
Christ's, Rom. xv. 18, none of his people are willing,
till the day of his power, Psa. ex. 3.

It is as great, yea, greater power, than that put
forth in creation. It is as great, it is the introduction
of another form, not in a way of any action or fashion,
but in such a manner as was in the creation ; that is,
by the mighty operation of God ; otherwise it could
not be called a new creature, though it might be
called a new thing. You call not that which is made
by the art or power of man, as a watch, a clock, a
house, a new creature ; for there is nothing of crea-
tion in them, but art and industry, setting the pieces
of matter, created to their hands, together in such a

OF REGENERATION. 245

form or figure. But this is called a new creature, not
so much in regard of the newness of the thing, but in
regard of the power that wrought it, and the manner
of working it, being the same with that of creation.
And being termed so, it implies the exerting an effi-
cacious power ; for creation is not wrought by a ces-
sation of action but the employment of an active vir-
tue. God does not hold his hand in his bosom, but
spreads it open, and applies it to an efficacious action ;
since it is a new creation, it implies a creator, and a
creative power ; creation cannot be without both. It
is a greater power expended in regeneration, than in
creation ; more power morally in this, than physically
in that ; one word created the world ; many words
are combined for the new preparation of the heart.
It is easier to make a thousand glasses, than to set to-
gether one that is dashed to pieces. It is easier with
God to make a world, (as to our conception, for all
things are alike easy to God,) and create thousands of
men with his image, as bright as Adam's, than to bring
that into form which is so miserably defaced.

First in regard of the subject. Sin hath turned
man into a beast; and Omnipotence can alone turn
a bestial man into angelical and divine. There is a
less distance between the least dust and the glorious
God, than there is between the Holy God and an im-
pure sinner; sin and grace are more contrary to one
another, than something and nothing. A straw may
with less power be made a star than a corrupted
sinner be made a saint. In creation God was only
to put in nature, here he is to put ofi' one that is
strong, and to bring in another altogether strange
and new ; it is hard to bring a man from oiX his old
stock, and as hard to make him nakedly to trust
Christ : it is more difficult to make a man leave his
sin, than to change his opinion : men are more in love
with habitual wickedness, than with any opinion what-
soever. In regard of the indisposedness of the soul.
There is some foundation for a natural religion, there
21 *

246

THE AUTHOR

Deing general notions of God and his attributes, which
would administer some conclusions that he was to be
feared and reverenced ; and according to these no-
tions many checks of conscience, which would induce
men to some moral behaviour towards God : but in
the setting our hearts right to God, and creating them
in a Mediator, there was not the least dust in nature
to build upon. In the creating of Adam's body, there
was some pre-existent matter; the dust of the ground,
whereof his body was by a divine power made and
organized; but we meet with no pre-existent matter
for the formation of the soul, which made him a ra-
tional creature ; that indeed was the breath of God,
not engendered by any concurring cause in nature :
there is no pre-existent matter in the creature, of
which this image is formed, though there be a pre-
existent subject to receive the impression of it ; it is
not the rearing any thing upon the foundation of na-
ture ; but introducing a nature wholly new, which
speaks almighty power. In regard of the contradic-
tion in the subject. The stream of man's natural rea-
son, the principles of self, whereby he is guided, run
counter to it ; there is a pride of reason which will
not stoop to the gospel, which in man's wisdom is
counted foolishness. Man is an untamed heifer, a
wild ass that snufis up the wind, full of hatred to the
ways of God, guided by gigantic lusts, which make
as great a resistance as a mountain of brass ; stout-
ness of heart, strong prejudices against the law of God ;
fierceness of affection, drinking iniquity like water;
universal madness, resisting the Spirit ; wild imagina-
tions ; frowardness in the will, forwardness to evil,
perversity against good : can any thing less than an
almighty power make an universal cure? It is more
easy to make men stoop to some victorious prince,
and become his vassals, than to bring men to a sub-
mission to God and his laws, which they entertain
with contempt and scorn. Nothing obeyed God's
word in the creation ; though it contributed not to his

1

OF REGENERATION. 1B#9F

design, yet it could not oppose him ; it could not swell
against him, because it was nothing. But every sin-
ner is rebellious, disputes God's commands, fortifies
himself against his entrance, gives not up himself
without a contest. This pride is hereditary, it bore
sway in the heart ever since Adam's fall, and hath
prescription of as long a standing as the world, to
plead for possession. What, but infinite power, can
fling down this pride at the foot of the cross, make
the heart strike its swelling sail to Christ, and become
nothing in itself, that Christ may be all hfe in him,
and all righteousness to him? It is only possible to
God to make a camel with this hunch on its back,
pass through a needle's eye : no less than divine
power can bring down these armies of opposite imagi-
nations, which have both multitude and strength, (and
no man knows either their number or strength,)
and the whole frame of contradiction against the
grace of Christ. Our Savio.ur intimates this creative
power in that thanksgiving to his Father. " I thank
thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth," &c..
Matt. xi. 25. Christ, in all his addresses to his Father,
used attributes and titles suitable to the business he
insisted on. The revelation of divine knowledge to
babes, the moulding their hearts to receive it, was an
act of God as he is the Lord of heaven, and earth,
putting forth an infinite power in the forming of it.
If God were the author of grace in the hearts of those
babes, persons better disposed, and nearer the kingdom
of heaven, as he was Lord of heaven and earth ; then
there must be some greater power than that of the
creation of the world, put forth to conquer the wise
and prudent, whose wisdom and prudence stand
armed in the breaches of nature to beat off the as-
saults of the gospel.

In regard to the opposition of the present posses-
sors. The chasing out an armed devil that hath kept
the palace in peace so long, must be by a power
superior to his own, Luke xi. 21, 22. This great

248

THE AUTHOR

Goliath has his armour about him, has had long pos-
session and dearest affections: the impulses of natural
concupiscence take his part: he has his alluring baits,
his pleasing proposals : the world and the flesh are
linked with him in a league, to hinder the restoration
of the soul to Christ, and the restoration of God's
image to the soul. A threefold cord is not easily
broken. It must be a power superior to those three
great powers in conjunction, that must bind the strong
man : and casting him out, and spoiling his goods, are
acts of power. Matt. xii. 29. Satan is too strong
to be easily cast out, and the flesh loves him too
dearly to be easily divorced from him ; he is never
likely to lay down his arms by persuasions ; though
all the angels in heaven should intreat him, he would
not give up one foot of his empire. Nay, though
what God proposes has a greater weight of goodness,
pleasure and profit in itself, than what those three
great impostors can offer, yet since reason is weak
and mightily corrupted under the conduct of sense,
which has an alliance with Satan's proposals, and
first sucks them in, it is not likely to meet with any
entertainment, as being against the interest of the
flesh ; and the will being backed with two such
powerful seconds as Satan and the world, to assist in
its refusals. Indeed, if he that is in the regenerate,
were not greater and more powerful than he that is
in the world, they would not be able to resist his
allurements and subtleties, 1 John iv. 4. The triumphs
of Christ at his ascension declare his power in his
acquisition; with a strong hand he broke the chain of
sinners, and led captivity captive before he gave gifts
to men, Psa. xlviii. 18. He does the like in giving
grace to the heart: he rides upon his white horse in
the power of Almighty grace, when he conquers the
enmity in the soul, as well as when he overcomes the
enemies of his church, Rev. vi. 2.

It is a power as great as that which wrought in the
resurrection of Christ. It is remarkable how loftily

OF REGENERATION. 249

the apostle sets it out, " And what is the exceeding
greatness of his power to us-ward who believe accord-
ing to the working of his mighty power: which he
wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead,
and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places,"
Eph. i. 19, 20. "Exceeding greatness of his power,'*
with an hyperbole, according to the working or effi-
cacy of his mighty power, noting the infusion of faith
in the soul by a powerful impression. " According to
the working of the might of strength ;" one word was
not enough to signify the great pow'er working : it is
strength with a greater edge upon it, as when a man
would fetch a mighty blow, he stirs up all his strength,
sets his teeth on edge to summon all his spirits to
assist his arm. The power of God in the creation of
nature is never in the whole Scripture set forth so
magnificently as his power in the creation of grace
is in this place. The apostle picks not out any
examples of God's powder in his ordinary works, or
that power in less miracles which exceeded the power
of nature, to illustrate this power by. He doth not
say, it is that power whereby we work miracles, or
speak with tongues : no ; neither is it that power
whereby our Saviour wrought such miracles when he
was in the world. It is a more illustrious power than
the giving sight to the blind, speech to the dumb, hear-
ing to the deaf, yea, or life to a putrefied carcass ; this
is an extraordinary power; but yet this gracious
power is higher than all this ; for it is as great as that
which wrought the two greatest miracles that ever
were acted in the creation ; as great as the raising
Jesus Christ, perfectly dead in the grave, and having
the weight of the sin of the world upon him ; and as
great as that power, which after the raising of him,
^ set him in his human nature at his right hand, above

■ principalities and powers, above the whole angelic

■ state : as much as to say, as great as all that which
K wrought the whole scene of the redemption, from the
m foundation-stone to the top-stone. It is such an un-

I

250 THE AUTHOR

conquerable power, whereby God brings about all his
decrees which terminated in Christ. Some say, this
power is not exercised in the begetting faith, but in
the faithful after faith is begun. It is very strange that
a less power is necessary to beget, than to preserve a
thing after it is brought into being. And the same
power is requisite to raise the heart of the most moral
man under heaven out of the grave of corrupted nature,
as woll as those that are furthest in their dispositions
from God. Had not our Saviour the weight of the
sins of men upon him, had he been dead but an hour
or two, lain in the grave with a little loose earth, or
light sand cast upon him, it would have required infi-
nite power to have restored him to life. The apostle
mentions this in other places, though not so highly as
in this, " That like as Christ was raised up by the
glory of the Father, even so we should walk in new-
ness of Hfe." Rom. vi. 4. It must be understood thus:
even so we, being raised up from sin by the glory of
the Father, should walk in newness of life. And it
may be partly the meaning of the apostle Peter, " Who
hath begotten us again to a lively hope by (or through)
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," 1 Pet.
i. 3, not only as the foundation of our hopes, but by a
power conformable to that which raised Christ from
the dead. I would only, by the w^ay, note, that this
infers a higher operation than merely an exhortation
and suasion ; for would any one say of a philosopher
that had taught him morality, that he had displayed
in him the exceeding greatness of his power, only upon
the account of advising and counselling him to reform
his manners, and live more soberly and honestly in
the world ! Our Saviour esteemed this one thing
greater than all the other miracles he wrought, and
declared himself to be the Christ more by this than by
any other. When John sent to know who he was, he
returns no other account than the list of his miracles,
" The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the

OF REGENERATION. 251

gospel is preached," Luke vii. 20. That which brings up
the rear, as the greatest, is " the poor are evangelized ;'*
it is not to be taken actively of the preaching of the
gospel, but passively, that they w^ere wrought upon by
the gospel, and become a renewed people, transformed
into the mould of it, else it would bear no analogy to
the other miracles ; the deaf hear, and the dead are
raised ; they had not exhortations to hear and live, but
the effects were wrought in them ; so those words
import not only the preaching of the gospel to them,
but the powerful operation of the gospel in them.
This greatest miracle in the catalogue is the only
miracle our Saviour has left in the world since the
cessation of all the rest.

I have insisted the longer upon these perfections of
God apparent in this work :

To stir up every renewed person to a thankful frame
toward God ; that he should engage his choicest attri-
butes for the good of a poor creature. To what pur-
pose did the apostle so long and so highly speak of the
power of God in raising them from a spiritual death,
but that they should acknowledge it, and admire God
for it 1 It cannot but raise high admiration and adora-
tion of God, to consider how mercy moved for them,
sovereignty called them out, wisdom modelled them,
holiness cleansed them, and power framed them.

To stir up deep humility. It is a plain declaration
of our miserable estate by nature, and the difficulty
of emerging out of it; impossible for any creature to
effect. Had not God been infinitely merciful, wise,
holy, true, and omnipotent, and put forth his power
to free men from a slavery to sin, not a man had been
able to escape out of it ; and these two, admiration of
God, and humiliation of self, are the two great acts of
a Christian, which set all other graces to work. Mercy
speaks us very miserable, wisdom declares us fools,
holiness unclean, and power extremely weak.

How mightily will it give a ground to the exercise
of faith ! He that is deeply sensible of this work of

252 THE AUTHOR

holiness and power in him, cannot but trust God upon
his deed, as well as before he did upon his word. As
you go to the promises without you, consider also the
counterpart of the promise within you, and the efficacy
of that power which wrought it; you have a ground
of faith within you : the power extends to every one
wherein this work is wrought : " What is the exceed-
ing greatness of his power to usward who believe ;"
this the apostle speaks to all the believing Ephesians.

Therefore look much into yourselves by way of
examination, to observe the actings of God's wisdom,
holiness, and power, within you. The want of this
makes many gracious persons live disconsolate. Paul
was certainly diligent in his observation, since he
speaks so feelingly and experimentally of it. It is the
way to answer Satan's objections, silence unbelieving
thoughts, when you can trace the steps and operations
of them in you : it would make you strive for an
increase of this work of regeneration, that you may
feel in yourselves more evidences of the holiness and
power of God.

Those that want it, may well despair of attaining
it by themselves and their own strength. Divine
wisdom and power are exerted in this work ; and
men may as well think themselves able to raise a dead
man, yea, Christ from the grave, and set him at the
right hand of God, as do this by their own strength:
if we want an eye or a hand, all the creation cannot
furnish us with either. How can any power but that
which is infinite, give us an eye to look to Christ within
the veil, and a hand to clasp him in heaven 1

It directs men where to seek it, and to seek it
earnestly. At the hands of God ; since infinite wis-
dom, holiness and power, are necessary for the pro-
duction of it. With earnestness, because it is so
transcendent a work, has so many perfections of God
shining in it, that creature-strength and wisdom are
utterly unable to frame and raise it ; and with hopes
too, if they earnestly seek it, since God has hereby

OF REGENERATION.

253

declared himself infinitely loving in the combination
of so many attributes for effecting it. Plead there-
fore the glory of God in these his attributes ; and if
God give you a heart to seek it, it is a probable
argument lie w^ill give you that grace, which he has
given you a heart to desire.

CHAPTER V.

In what way Regeneration is effected — It is a secret work — It
is rational — It is a work wrought in the understanding, remov-
ing its indisposition, fixing the attention, stimulating the rea-
soning faculties, and thus producing conviction — It is a work
wrought in the will — The will being depraved, it is wrought on
by an immediate supernatural influence — not compulsive, but
free, gentle, and yet insuperably victorious — Inferences.

This work is secret, and therefore difficult to be
described. The effects are as obvious to a spiritual
sense, as the methods of it are obscure to our under-
standings, secret as the origin of winds, sensible as
the sound and bluster of them, John iii. 8. If a dead
man were raised, he would not know the manner how
his soul returned into the body, how it took its former
place, and made up a new union : he would know that
he lives and moves. A gracious soul knows that he
was carnal, and now spiritual ; blind, and that he now
sees ; he finds strength instead of weakness ; inclina-
tions to good, instead of opposition ; sweetness in the
ways of God, instead of bitterness. The methods of
grace are obscure, as those of nature, " Who knows
the way of the Spirit, or how the bones grow in the
womb of her that is with child ? even so thou knowest
not the works of God who makes all." Eccles. xi, 5,
The manner of the formation of Christ in the soul, is
as undiscernible as the formation of a child, or the
manner of Christ's conception in the womb of the

22

254

THE AUTHOR

virgin ; both which are fearful and wonderful, as it is
said of the first, " Who can declare his generation V*
Isa. liii. 8 ; that is, the generation of Christ, either in
his person, or in his people. We cannot give a satis-
factory account of the natural nnotions of our souls,
how one faculty connmands another, how the soul
governs the several parts of the body; what the nature
of the action of our mind is in contemplation and
reflection ; how our wills move the spirits in the body
whereby the members are influenced in their motion,
and the functions of life performed: much more undis-
cernible are the supernatural methods of the Spirit of
God. We know ourselves heirs to the corruption of
the first Adam, by the inbeing of it ; the light of the
grace of the second Adam discovers itself in the soul;
but the manner of the descent of either is not easily
to be determined. , The loadstone attracting iron is
the best representation of this work ; the soul, like that,
moves sensibly, cleaves strongly to God; but wherein
this virtue consists, how communicated both in that
of nature, and this of spirit, dazzles the eye of reason.
Yet this is evident, that it is rational ; that is, con-
gruous to the essential nature of man. God does not
deal with us as beasts, or as creatures destitute of
sense, but as creatures of an intelligent order. Who
is there that believes in Christ in such a manner, as
heavy things fall to the earth, or light things fly up to
the air, or as beasts run at the beck of their sensual
appetite, without rule or reason 1 If the Spirit of God
wrought so upon man, this were to lay our faculties
asleep, not to influence them, but to act only upon
them; this were to invert the natural order by crea-
tion, to raze out the foundations of virtue, and deny
the creature the pleasure of his condition, who accord-
ing to such a manner of operation could not understand
his own state, no more than a brute can the harmony
of music, or the pleasing variety of colours : but grace
perfects our souls, possesses them with new principles,
moves one faculty by another, like the motions of the

OF REGENERATION. 255

wheels in a clock or watch ; like the common course
of providence, wherein he orders all afiairs according
to the dependence of them one upon another by crea-
tion, without making any inroad upon the natural
rights of any creature ; but preserving them entire,
unless in some miraculous action. He diffuses a
supernatural virtue into the soul, not to thwart it in
that course of working he appointed it in the crea-
tion, but to move it agreeably to its nature as a
rational being. As the sun conveys a celestial virtue
upon the plants, drawing them forth by its influence
according to their several natures ; so the Holy Ghost
introduces a supernatural principle into men, where-
by they act as reasonable creatures in a higher strain.
What methods our Saviour used in the first declara-
tion of the gospel, he uses in the propagation of it in
the hearts of men. The same reason that is used in
writing the indenture, is used in writing the coun-
terpart. He might by his omniscient wisdom have
found the way to the most secret corner of every
man's heart, and by his power have set up what
standard he pleased in every part of the castle, with-
out proposing the gospel in the way of miracles and
arguments ; but he transacts all that affair in such a
manner, that men might be moved in a rational way
to their own happiness. He required a rational be-
lief, as he gave rational evidences. " If I do not the
works of my Father, believe me not," John x. 37,
that is, the works that none but one empowered by
God could do. God that requires of us a reasonable
service, would work upon us by a reasonable opera-
tion. God therefore works by way of a spiritual
illumination of the understanding, in propounding the
creature's happiness by arguments and reasons, and
in a way of a spiritual impression upon the will,
moving it sweetly to embrace that happiness, and the
means to it which he proposes and indeed without
this work preceding, the motion of the will could
never be regular.

256 THE AUTHOR

God does this by a double work: upon the under-
standing, and upon the will.

Upon the understanding. The opening the eyes
precedes the conversion from darkness to light, in
God's operation, as well as in the apostle's commis-
sion, Acts xxvi. 18. The first appearance of life
when God raises the soul, is in the clearness and dis-
tinctness of its knowledge of God, Hos. vi. 2, 3. And
the apostle in his exhortation to the Romans, tells
them, the way for the transformation of their souls,
was by the renewing of their minds; "Be ye trans-
formed by the renewing of your minds," Rom. xii. 2.
The light of the sun is seen breaking out at the dawn-
ing of the day, before the heat of the sun is felt. As
the action of our sense is to sensible objects, so is that
of our soul to spiritual ; our eye first sees an object,
before our hearts desire it, or our members move to
it; so there is an apprehension of the goodness of the
thing proposed, before there is any motion of our wills
to it. So God begins his work in our minds, and ter-
minates it in our wills. In regard of this, as a state
of nature is set forth under the term of darkness, so a
state of grace is often termed light, that being the first
work in the new creation, as it was the first word of
command in the old; "Let there be light," 2 Cor. iv.
6; Col. iii. 10; and is therefore called a renewing in
knowledge. If you consider the Scripture, you will
find most of the terms whereby this is set forth to us,
have relation to the understanding. The Gospel itself
is called knowledge, Luke i. 77; wisdom, 1 Cor. i. 30.
What faculty in man is appointed for the apprehend-
ing of a science to gain wisdom but the understand-
ing? That whereby we receive the gospel, is called
the spirit of the mind, the eyes of the understanding
and sight, which is put before believing. " Every one
w^hich sees the Son and believes on him," John vi. 40.
The work of grace is called revelation, Gal. i. 16 ;
illumination, Ephes. i. 18; translation from dark-
ness to light; opening the heart. The action of our

OF REGENERATION.

257

minds being enlightened, is called comprehending,
Eph. iii. 18; and knowledge, 2 Pet. i. 2. All respect
the understanding, as the original wheel which God
primarily sets in order, from whence he influences
secondarily all the other faculties which depend upon
its guidance, God preserving hereby the order which
he instituted in nature: therefore when the understand-
ing savingly apprehends the deformity of sin, the will
must hate it: when it apprehends the mercy of God,
and the beauty of holiness, the will must love him ;
and the higher the degrees of this saving illumination
are in the mind, the stronger and firmer are the habits
and acts of grace in the will. This illuminative act
of the Spirit is before the other of inclining the will :
for the understanding is first exercised about the
word as true, before the will is concerned in it as
good. The understanding takes in the light of the
gospel, which by the working of the Spirit is reflected
upon the will, whereby it is changed into the image
of Christ whose gospel it is. " Beholding as in a
glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the
same image," 2 Cor. iii. 18. The first act is of the
mind, which is the eye of the soul; where the apostle
intimates, that the whole progress as well as the first
change, is wrought in this manner.

This is wrought,

By removing the indisposition and prejudices which
naturally are in the mind. As a wise physician which
orders his medicines for the removing of the principal
humour. Chains of darkness must be broken, films
upon the eye must be removed, which hinder the act
of vision; for what the eye is to the body, that the
understanding is to the soul. The darkness of igno-
rance is promised in the covenant to be scattered.
" They shall all know me from the least to the great-
est of them." Jer. xxxi. 34. This being a law in
the inward parts, the eye must be cleared to read it,
as well as the heart cleansed to obey it. The object
being spiritual, requires a spiritual disposition in the
22*

258

THE AUTHOR

faculty for the reception of it. This is called in Scrip-
ture a giving eyes to see, and ears to hear, Deut.
xxix. 4, and the revealing things not only by the
word, but by the Spirit, 1 Cor. ii. 10, which in regard
of rectifying the reasons and judgments of men, is
called a spirit of judgment; "and shall have purged
the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, by the
spirit of judgment, and the spirit of burning ;" Isa.
iv. 4; a spirit of judgment, as it is light in the under-
standing, removing the darkness; a spirit of burning,
as it is heat in the heart, thawing the hardness. It
reduces the mind into a right order, and teaches it to
judge between truth and falsehood, between good and
evil; the want of which is the cause of sin, whence
sins are called, Heb. ix. 7, errors, as arising from
error in judgment. Since the mind is filled with fogs,
and incapable of perceiving the splendour of divine
truths, God acts upon the mind by an inward virtue,
causing the word proposed to be mixed with an act
of faith, which he begets in the soul, whereby it appre-
hends the excellency of that state presented to it in the
gospel. As there is a manifestation of his name in
the word, so there is an operation of his grace; an
internal teaching by God, as well as an external by
the gospel; the proposal of the word by man, the
opening and fitting the heart by God. "Every man
that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father,
cometh unto me." John vi. 45. Christ taught all by
his ministry, the Father only some by his Spirit.
Learning of God goes before coming to Christ: and
those two acts are plainly distinguished; "hear, and
not understand;" Isa. vi. 9, 10. The lock of their
minds was to be opened, as well as that of their ears;
the prophet's voice could unlock the one, the Spirit
alone had the key of the other. Men may enlighten
as moral causes, God only as the efficient cause, to
root out the inward indisposition. The Spirit also re-
moves the prejudices against Christ as undesirable,
against holiness as troublesome; takes down the

OF REGENERATION. 259

strength of corrupt reasonings, pulls down those idols
of the mind, and false notions of happiness; out-rea-
sons men out of their inward thoughts of a happiness
in sensual pleasures, pride of life, mammon of honour
or wealth, which are the root of our spiritual disease,
and first to be cured. In this there is a manifest
difference between the working of Satan, and the
operation of God ; he sets his battery against the affec-
tions, because the entry is there easiest; God breaks
in upon the understanding, which being the chief fort,
will quickly be a means to reduce the less citadels.
And when the work begins in removing the blindness,
it is the way to a true conversion; when it begins only
in the affections, it is a prognostic of a quick starting
aside. In our outward exhortation, God acts suitably
to our nature, since we are endued with understand-
ing and will ; but in acting upon us within, he reme-
dies the vice of our nature, since our reason and will
are corrupted.

It is wrought by bringing the mind and the object
close together. Sight is produced in a blind man by
drawing off the scales from his eyes, and the recourse
of spirits to the eye necessary for sight ; besides this,
there must be outward light, and objects coloured by
that light; and from the eye so disposed within, and
the thing discovered without, ariseth the action of
sight: so from the preparation of the understanding,
and the apphcation of the object, arises this action of
spiritual vision. There is a double opening, one of
the gospel, the other of the understanding ; our Saviour
did both, " he opened the Scriptures," Luke iv. 32,
and opened their understandings, ver. 45, that there
might be a mutual entrance, that the word might
dwell in their hearts, and their hearts have admission
into the word. The Spirit shows the great things of
the gospel to the soul. *' Ho shall receive of mine,
and show it unto you ;" John xvi. 14 ; not in general,
but bring them near to them, to make them view,
" and know the things that are freely given to them

260 THE AUTHOR

of God," 1 Cor. ii. 12, the benefits of the death and
resurrection of Christ ; he repeats them again and
again, that there may be an evidence in the mind
that they are the royal gifts of God. There is a know-
ledge before this work of the Spirit, but as of things
at a distance ; many know the things proposed in the
gospel, but they know it not as a glorious gospel, nor
see the wonders in this law, till the Spirit brings that
and the faculty close together. As a man may dis-
cern a statue or picture at a distance, but till the eye
and the objects meet closer together, it cannot discern
the beautiful workmanship upon them, with any affec-
tion to them. Not that a man knew nothing, or knows
new reasons of those thhigs which he knew before; but
there is a nearer, and therefore clearer representation
of them, which is a manifest demonstration, whereby
he knows them in another manner than he did before.
As a man may know the promises before, but they
were not brought so near to him as to taste them ;
taste being an addition to knowledge, whereby a man
knows that sensibly, which before he only knew no-
tionally. It is one thing to know a mechanical instru-
ment, and another to know it in the operation of it, when
it is applied to its proper use. It is like a man that
has his understanding more cleared by seeing mathe-
matical demonstrations, and lines drawn, than by all
the rules of art in his head.

By fixing the mind upon the object so closely pre-
sented. The Spirit settles that light and the object so
in the mind, that it can no more blow it out than puff
out the sparklings of a diamond, or than an artist
endued with the habit of some art, can divest himself
of his skill. Many men have some convictions of
truth, but flashy and uncertain, and which slip from
their minds : but when the Spirit opens the heart, it
holds the object to the mind, and the mind to the ob-
ject ; starts one holy thought after another about the
truth it hath darted in, makes the mind think about it,
and take notice of every lineament of that truth that

OF REGENKRATION. 261

we see, and those thoughts he down, rise up, and walk
with us. When Lydia's heart was opened, she at-
tended to the things spoken by Paul, Acts xvi. 14 ;
her whole heart cleaved to them. In this respect the
Spirit is a remembrancer, making the soul ponder,
and beat over again with all intenseness of mind, the
goodness and truth of those things in the gospel which
are brought unto it ; that the heart is, as Paul was,
bound in spirit to Jerusalem, Acts xx. 22. The
thoughts of that journey so haunted him and followed
him, as the shadow does the body, that no arguments
of friends, nor fear of danger, could divert him ; the
soul is bound by them, one consideration overtaking
another, and all at work beating upon the mind.
Hence consideration is put before conversion, "be-
cause he considers, and turns away from all his trans-
gressions," Ezek. xviii. 28. And it is called the in-
grafted word, fastened to the soul as a graft to the
stock; when the heart is opened by the Spirit, the
word is inserted in and bound to it, and at last the
heart becomes one with the word and grows up
with it.

By bringing the soul to an actual reasoning and
discourse upon the sight of the evidence. God con-
vinces the judgment with reasons proper to evidence
the truth and goodness of what he proposes, and that
with pregnant and prevailing demonstrations, which
give a competent satisfaction ; therefore called the
" demonstration of the Spirit and power," 1 Cor. ii.
4 ; that is, a spiritual and powerful demonstration.
When the eye is opened, and the revelation made, and
held close and fast to the soul with a divine demon-
stration, that this is the only means to elevate him to
a high condition, and at last bring him to a blessed
immortality ; the understanding is moved to compare
the force of those arguments, and consequently judge
that true which before it counted false and foolish-
ness : and comes by the help of this spiritual light to
reason spiritually and spiritually to discern the proposi-

262

THE NATURE

tion made to it. It compares its natural state with the
happy state offered to it ; its own ignorance with that
light, its own misery with that mercy. God will not have
man, who is so far above a beast, do any thing without
reason ; for this would be to do it brutishly, though
the thing done were ever so good ; when men act as
men, they follow the judgment of the best reason they
can ; and shall man that was created a rational crea-
ture, be renewed without reason, when the very work
is to advance him to the true state of a reasonable
creature, and his reason is enlightened by the Spirit,
that it may rightly judge of the demonstrative argu-
ments it offers to him ? Is there not as much reason
for the guidance of the will in the highest concern,
as for the conduct of it in affairs of a lower sphere?
Man was first endued with reason, that he might ra-
tionally serve God; and his depraved reason is re-
formed, that he may rationally return to God. If,
therefore, he act like a man in other things, he does
not surely act like a brute in this ; but the Spirit ex-
cites the reason he has enlightened, to judge of those
excellent* things he proposes and the strength of the
arguments he backs them with, which are so clear
and undeniable, that they cannot be refused by a mind
divested of those indispositions which drew out before
a contempt of them. The change in the will being an
election and choice, cannot be made without convinc-
ing and satisfying reasons which induce it to that
choice, and justify the election it has made ; that can
hardly be called faith, when a man believes that which
he does not think upon the highest reason was his duty
to believe. And indeed what man is there that can-
not allege some reason why he is induced to this or
that act ? God moves men by presenting things to
the understanding, under the notion of good, honest,
profitable ; and when the understanding is enlightened
to judge of things in some measure under the same
notion that God proposes them, a man's own reason
cannot but upon a view of them assent unto them ;

OF REGENERATION. 263

and that assent is followed with a change, according
to the degrees of that illumination, if it be a saving
one. Upon this account that our own reason is ex-
cited to judge of the proposal, our faith can no more
be said to be a human faith, or the work to proceed
from our own power, than it can be said to be sensi-
tive, because it comes by hearing: for though faith
depends upon hearing and reasoning, as upon natural
powers ; yet the light whereby the faculties are
actuated, is wholly supernatural, and from the Spirit
of God.

Hence follows a full conviction of the soul; both
the knowledge of its own misery, and the amiableness
of the gospel offer, whence issues a weariness under
the one, and desires for the other. By this enlighten-
ing, the soul sees sin in its empire, God in his wrath,
Satan in his tyranny, and the hardness of the stone
within him ; he sees the law accusing, sin triumphing,
heaven shut, and hell open, God ready to judge him,
and his soul every way deplorable. He sees also in
the gospel how Christ has expiated sin, answered the
demands of the law, stills the clamours of conscience,
satisfied the justice of God by bearing his wrath ;
hereupon the soul closes with Christ, and is born
again. Here are heaps of sin that cannot be num-
bered ; on the other side are riches of mercy that
cannot be reckoned ; there is sin to damn, here is a
Christ to save ; heaven and hell, sin and Christ, damna-
tion and salvation, are presented in their proper
colours, and pressed upon the understanding, which
beholds all by a clear light. And thus by the illumina-
tive virtue of the Spirit, the soul is laid at God's feet
in a sense of its misery, and then drawn into Christ's
arms by a sense of his grace. This is wrought by a
convictive persuasion, for so the word signifies, John
xvi. 8, which causes both a sight of sin, and a sense
of righteousness, and produces a full assent in the
understanding.

The next faculty wrought upon, is the will. The

264 THE AUTHOR

will is inclined as well as the understanding enlightened,
whereby spiritual things are approved with a spiritual
affection ; the same hand that darts light into the
mind, puts heat into the will. After the act of under-
standing hath preceded in a serious consideration,
and thorough conviction, the act of the will by virtue
of the same Spirit, follows in a delightful motion to
the object proposed to it ; it is conducted by light,
and spirited by love; the understanding hands the
object to the will as necessary to be embraced ;
and the arms of the will are opened to receive it, as
the eyes of the mind are to behold it.

For the understanding of this, take these proposi-
tions.

There seems to me to be an immediate supernatural
work upon the will, as well as upon the understand-
ing ; not that the understanding is only enlightened,
and the will follows the dictate of that, without any
further touch of the Spirit upon it ; but the will as it
is the will, and therefore cannot be forced, there is
need of a moral cause which may determine it accord-
ing to its nature, and draw it by the cords of a man.
When a master instructs a youth in his trade, he does
it by arguments, morally ; when he holds his hand
with the instrument in it, and directs the motion, he
acts physically ; so does the Spirit exhort us to spirit-
ual motion, telling us inwardly which is the way, that
we may walk in it, and takes our wills by the hand, as
it were, and leads them in the way they are to go. A
nurse's tongue and exhortation is not enough to make
a child to go, because of the weakness of its limbs;
nor the light in the understanding sufficient to move
the will, wherein there is an habitual weakness and
contradiction. How did God work up the wills of the
Egyptians to lend their jewels to the Israelites, but
by some immediate touch. Their reason might have
furnished them with many more arguments against it,
than it could for it: they knew the Israelites had been
highly injured, and that very lately too ; that they

OP REGENERATION. 265

could not but have a deep sense of their oppression,
and intentions of revenge, as far as their power ex-
tended. They knew that the Israelites prepared for
flight, and might more than conjecture that they in-
tended never to return or send their jew^els to them ;
for what need had they of so many goods barely to
sacrifice in the wilderness ? How were their wills
thus bended against so many arguments against this
action, and without any strong reasons to move them
to consent to such a desire of the Israelites ? How
must this be, but by the efficacious power of God, not
forcing their wills, but taming their fierceness, soften-
ing them by a secret influence, and exciting them to
grant the Israelites' request. The apostle says, God gives
us to will. If there were not a particular act upon the
will, it had better been said, God gives us to understand
and know, and man to will and do. After the evidence
set up in the understanding, there is a secret touch
upon the will, opening and enlarging it to run the
way that is proposed in an excellent and charming
manner. As the power of God raises every part of
Christ, so the same power raises every faculty of the
soul ; it was also a supernatural power, since mere
exhortation would never have effected it.

The Scripture intimates this in the terms whereby
it signifies this work to us ; as creation, resurrection,
regeneration, new birth, all which denote some super-
natural operation distinct in each faculty in the new
creation, as there was in the first ; not only the law in
the mind to direct, but the heart of flesh to comply,
is God's act. The fleshy heart is wrought by him,
as well as the knowledge of the mind lighted by him.
In regeneration there is an eradication of corrupt
habits, and an implantation of gracious ones. It is
called a giving a heart, a circumcision of the heart to
love God. Deut. xxx. 6. Love is an act of the will
though it supposes a knowledge of the amiable object
in the understanding. If faith be principally in the
will, as I think it is, as to consent ? and the words

23

266 THE AUTHOR

leaning, resting, coming, rather denote an act of the
will than an act of the understanding ; there is then
an operation of God upon the subject, viz. the will in
the implanting of it.

The will is corrupted as well as the understanding.
The works of the flesh issue from both; if the cor-
ruption were only in the understanding, then that
being removed, the will would be regenerated. As
in a watch, if the fault be only in one wheel, that
being mended, the whole frame is rectified ; but if
there be a flaw in all, the mending of one, though the
principal one, which moves the rest, will not set every
wheel right, without a particular application of art to
restore them to their due frame. Was not original
righteousness subjectively in the will, as well as in the
mind 1 Did not a stoutness in the will succeed in the
place of that righteousness, as well as darkness in the
place of light i Must there not then be a habit of
mollifying grace bestowed upon the one, as well as a
habit of enlightening truth set up in the other; an in-
clination to good in the will, and an aversion from
evil, as well as the knowledge of both ] The corrupt
proneness in the will, is the cause that it is easily ex-
cited to evil by the persuasion of the devil and the
world; and is there not need of an inward rectitude
in the will to bias it to a free embracing and close ad-
herence to the good proposed to it by God, that his
grace may be efficacious in every part 1 This work
is the quickening of a man under an universal spiritual
death: the will was dead, as well as the mind dark,
which must have life instead of its darkness, as the
other has light instead of its deadness : and if they be
two distinct faculties, then there are two distinct acts
of the Spirit, though they depend one upon another.
There is no less power requisite to make us spiritually
wiUing, than to make us spiritually knowing; since
the corrupt habits in our wills are rather stronger
than the prejudices in our understandings : therefore
there seems to be a distinct act in removing the re-

OF REGENERATION. 267

sistance from the one, as well as expelling the darkness
from the other. As the Spirit takes away the wisdom
that was sensual, earthly, and devilish, so it divests
the will of that disposition whereby it was enamoured
of that devilish wisdom of the flesh, and makes it
willing to cut off the right hand, to pluck out the
right eye, to deny sin, which is the very self, and en-
gage in an irreconcilable quarrel against all that en-
grossed its choicest affections.

If the understanding has such power, by virtue of
its illumination, without an act also of the Spirit upon
the will, and a particular application of the under-
standing to the will, and the will to the understanding,
why did not Adam's will follow his understanding?
His understanding was clear, without darkness ; his
affections first made the rebellion; sense was the
leader and the will the follower. Eve's understanding
was not silent under the temptation of Satan; her
knowledge was evinced in that speech, "God hath
said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch
it, lest ye die," Gen. iii. 3 : she cites the word, her
understanding must needs concur with it, unless it
were corrupted and darkened before the fall. Where
then lay the resistance? In the affections, and the will
which sided with them. Why may not the will pos-
sessed with those evil habits, resist the understanding
imperfectly restored to its primitive light, as well as
Adam's will did where there was no scale or film
upon the eye of his soul ? And likely his affections
had kept their due order, if the will had preserved its
due dependence upon reason, and its sovereignty over
the sensitive part. Do we not find that our wills are
oftener in contradiction to the true sentiments of our
understanding, and in conjunction with the affections,
than in a due subordination to the one, and command
over the other 1 Is it not frequently seen, that men
of much light, knowledge, and gifts of reason, answer
not the end of that illumination, and are without a will
to turn to God 1 Besides, since corruption came in

268

THE AUTHOR

by the affections, when the understanding was clear ;
how can regeneration of the will come in by the illu-
mination of the understanding, without a particular
operation upon the will and atiections 1 If it be said,
the will follows the dictate of the understanding, why
did it not so in Adam? If we were perfectly re-
stored, as Adam was in innocence, without the
grace of God in our wills, as well as light in our
understanding, we were not likely to keep up in due
order.

If there were not a supernatural operation and ha-
bits in the will, what would become of infants, who
cannot in that state be renewed without such a kind
of working? They are not susceptible of moral ex-
hortations; we cannot conceive any other way the
Spirit hath to work upon them, but by such an ope-
ration, putting habits into their wills, whereby they
are renewed and sanctified ; they are capable of the
habit, though not of the act. We never find our
Saviour spending any exhortations upon infants, but
he took them in his arms and blessed them; and told
us, that of such is the kingdom of heaven; and if the
kingdom of heaven be of such, there is some operation
upon them different from this method of working only
upon their understanding.

If there were not some operations of the Spirit upon
our wills, regeneration and conversion would be more
our work than God's. If the Spirit terminates his
working only upon the understanding, and the will
be moved by the understanding alone, without any
conjunction of the Spirit in the work upon the will,
then the Spirit does not immediately concur in the
chief part of regeneration, but as it illuminates the
mind ; for the chief part of renewing grace is in the
will. It was in a less affair than this, wherein David
blessed God for the people's wilhngness, offering so
freely; acknowledging it indeed the people's act, but
by God's overruling their wills, 1 Chronicles xxix
13, 14.

OF REGENERATION. 269

God is all in all in glory. When Christ shall have
delivered the kingdom to his Father, God then shall
be all in all; 1 Cor. xv. 28, all in their understandings,
all in their wills; he shall be the immediate cause of
all things, and govern and dispose all things by him-
self, and for himself; binding the souls of all the glori-
fied by everlasting ligatures to himself: all in all to the
glorified, all light in their understanding, all love and
delight in their will, objectively, efficiently. What
efficacy he has in glory, shall we deny him in grace
in every particular faculty?

Yet this work, though immediate, is not compulsive
and by force. It is a contradiction for the will to be
moved unwillingly: any force upon it destroys the
nature of it; if it be forced, it ceases to be will. It is
not forced, because it is according to reason, and the
natural motion of the creature; the understanding
proposing, and the will moved to an embracing ; the
understanding going before with light, the will follow-
ing after with love. The liberty of the will consists
in following the guidance of reason ; to have a liberty
to go against it, is the greatest misery of the crea-
ture: that is properly constraint, when we are com-
pelled to work contrary to the natural way of work-
ing: there is no constraint by force, but there is a
kind of a constraint by love, because the Spirit ac-
companies this operation with so much efficacy, that
instead of that sadness we should have in a thing we
were forced to, there is an unspeakable joy and con-
tent in the soul; it not being possible to taste so much
of the love of God, to be delivered from so fearful a
condemnation, to be brought to so glorious a hope,
without being seized with much pleasure and delight.
God changes the inclination of the will, but does not
force it against its inclination: the will, being a
rational faculty, cannot be wrought upon except
rationally. Since the main work consists in faith and
love, it is impossible there can be any force: no man
can be forced to believe against his reason, or love
23*

270 THE AUTHOR

against his will, or desire against his inclinations
Belief is wrought by persuasion; no nnan can be per-
suaded by force. It cannot be conceived, that the will
should will against the will. No man can be happy
against his will, all happiness consisting in a suitable-
ness of the object to the faculty: those things that in
themselves are the greatest pleasures of the world, if
they please not a man, cannot confer any happiness
upon him. The Spirit never works thus ; because
"where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." 2
Cor. iii. 17, he destroys not the liberty, but induces it
to will more nobly than before. Besides, the liberty
of the will doth not stand in indifference to this or that
thing, for then the will would lose its liberty every
time it determined itself to any one thing, because
after the determination it would be no longer indiffer-
ent to the other. But the liberty of the will consists
in being carried out according to the dictate of the
practical judgment, and not by a blind instinct. God
doth not deal with us as stones, and logs, or slaves,
whom the whip makes to do that which they hate in
their hearts: but conducts us in ways agreeable to our
nature: he calls, saying, "Seek ye my face;" and
inclines the will to answer, " Thy face. Lord, will I
seek," Psa. xxvii. 8. That God who knows how to
make a will with a principle of freedom, knows how
to work upon the will, without intrenching upon, or
altering the essential privilege he bestowed upon
it: he that formed us, as a potter does his vessel,
knows very well the handles whereby he may take
hold of us, without making any breach in our
nature.

It is free and gentle. A constraint, not by force,
but love, which is not an extrinsic force, but intrinsic
and pleasant to the will ; he bends the creature so,
that at the very instant wherein the will is savingly
wrought upon, it delightfully consents to its own hap-
piness : he draws by the cords of a man, and by a
secret touch upon the will, makes it willing to be

Ol flEGENERATION. 271

drawn, and nnoves it upon its own hinges. It is sweet
and alluring ; the Spirit of grace is called, the " oil
of gladness ;" it is a delightful and ready motion which
it causes in the will ; it is a sweet etficacy, and an
efficacious sweetness. At what time God savingly
works upon the will, to draw the soul from sin and
the world, to himself, it does with the greatest willing-
ness, freedom, and delight, follow after God, turn to
him, close with him, and cleave to him, with all the
heart, and with purpose never to depart from him,
"Draw me, and we will run after thee;" Cant. i. 4;
drawing signifies the efficacious power of grace; run-
ning signifies the delightful motion of grace ; the will
is drawn, as if it would not come ; it comes as if it
were not his creature, nor doth prejudice his absolute
power. As God moves necessary causes, necessarily;
contingent causes, contingently; so he moves free
agents freely, without offering violence to their natures.
The Spirit glides into the heart by the sweet illapses
of grace, and victoriously assures the soul, " I will
allure her, and speak to her heart;" Hos. ii. 14; not
by crossing, but changing the inclination, by the all
conquering and alluring charms of love ; as a man
doth that person whom he intends for his spouse ; for
to that he alludes ; because in the latter part of the
chapter, he speaks of the consummation of his mar-
riage with the church, '* In that day thou shalt call
me Ishi ;" verse 16; in what day? In the day that
he should allure, and speak to her heart. God puts
on the deportment of a lover in changing the frame
of the will. The Spirit is as one that leads the way
into truth. " The Spirit shall guide you into all
truth," John xvi. 13. Not drags; he opens the heart,
not by a forcible entry, but as a key that fits every
ward in the lock. The attraction of the will, is much
like that of iron by the loadstone, which had no
motion of itself, till the powerful emissions of the load-
stone's virtue reached it, and then it seems to move
with a kind of voluntariness: there is no force used,

Ti2

THE AUTHOR

but a delicious virtue emitted, which doth, as it were,
both persuade and enable it to join itself to its beloved
attractor. There is a secret virtue communicated by-
God, which, as soon as it touches the soul, puts lite
and delightful motion into it, which before lay like a
log. It embraces Christ as its portion, and passes a
decree, that it will keep his words, " Thou art my
portion, O Lord : I have said, that I will keep thy
word." Psa. cxix. 57.

It is insuperably victorious. What the mouth of
God speaks, what his will proposes, his hand fulfils,
1 Kings viii. 24. It is not a faint and languishing
impression, but a reviving, sprightly, and victorious
touch. As the demonstration of the Spirit is clear
and undeniable ; so the power of the Spirit is sweet
and irresistible ; both are joined. Cor. ii. 4. An inex-
pressible sweetness allures the soul, and an uncon-
querable power draws the soul ; there are clear de-
monstrations, charming persuasions, and invincible
efficacy combined together in the work. He leaves
not the will in indifference. If God were the author
of faith only by putting the will into an indifference,
though it be determined by its own proper liberty,
why may not he also be said to be the author of
unbelief, if by the same liberty of this indifTerence it
be determined to reject the gospel 1 For in the same
manner God is author of one motion of the will as
well as of the other, if he doth no more than leave
the will in an equilibrium. This irresistibleness takes
not away the liberty of the will. Our Saviour's obedi-
ence was free and voluntary, yet necessary and irre-
sistible. He could not sin in regard of the hypostati-
cal union, yet he had a greater aversion to sin than
all the angels in heaven. Is not God freely and vol-
untarily good, yet necessarily so? He cannot be
otherwise than good, he will not be otherwise than
good. So the will is irresistibly drawn, and yet
freely comes to its own happiness. The soul is
brought over to God, and adheres to him, not by a

OF KEGENEllATION. 273

necessity of compulsion, but of immutability : as
the angels necessarily obey God, not by compulsion,
but from an immutable love. A sinner is necessarily
a servant to sin ; a regenerate man necessarily a ser-
vant to God ; both by a kind of necessity of nature.
Our main business then is to see what new enlighten-
ings there are in our minds by the Spirit in the gos-
pel; what tastes and relishes we have of divine truths;
how our wills are allured to a sincere and close com-
pliance with the proposals of God in the gospel ;
what vigour is in them. This is God's method, to
work first upon the understanding, then upon the
will. That work which begins first in the affections,
without light dawning and breaking in upon the mind,
and growing up by consideration and inquiries into
the gospel, is to be suspected, and is not likely to be
durable.

This is the Scripture method, and every regenerate
person may find it more or less in himself.

Inferences. — If God be the efficient cause of regene-
ration, then there is a necessity for the influence of
God in all the progress of grace. It is yet imperfect;
the same hand that planted it, must also water and
dress it. There is a tough sinew left in man's will,
which makes him halt, after he hath the new name
of Israel put upon him; a weakness of faith, a cold-
ness of love, a faintness of zeal. What God is the
Creator of, is nursed by his providence; what he is
the new Creator of, is fostered by a succession of
grace: the Scripture, therefore, appropriates all to
him ; he is the God that calls us, the God that anoints
us, the God that carries us, the God that establishes
us, the God that keeps us, and the God that perfects
us. He is the author of grace in its first issue, its
fruitful sproutings, its delicious ripenings; it depends
upon him in creation, preservation, augmentation,
as well as natural things depend upon him in all their
progressive motions, from one degree to another, as
the author of nature. When nature was most unspot-

274 THE AUTHOR

ted, grace was necessary to preserve and fix it in that
state. Adam needed the assistance of grace with the
embellishments of nature. The same power that
inspires us with life, inspires us with a perpetual con-
tinuation of it. If the tide that turns the stream of
the river, desert it, and return to its own channel, the
river will return to its natural current. Our hearts
will decline, our life languish, unless fed by that
supernatural efficacy which did first produce it. The
plants cannot grow merely from their own internal
form ; nor trees bring forth their pleasant fruits with-
out the influence of rain and sun drawing them out
to make a show of themselves in flowers and fruits ;
and when they are brought forth, they stand in need
of the same rain to fill them, the same sun to ripen
them.

If God be the efficient cause in regeneration, then
we see where we are to have recourse in all the exi-
gencies of the new creature ; to whom, but to the
author of those beginnings of eternal life ? God is all,
in all parts of this glorious work ; " The God of all
grace, who hath called us into his eternal glory, make
you perfect, strengthen, stablish, settle you," &c. 1
Pet. V. 10. There is need of preserving, strengthen-
ing, increasing, quickening, and perfecting grace.

These you need, and these must be sought, and will
be had, from the same goodness and power by which
you were new born.

God only can give such graces. There is a neces-
sity for it : as God rears it, so he only can keep it from
pinmg away. Plants will wither, if the rain do not
descend ; the flame will be extinguished, if fuel be not
added. There is as much necessity for a constant
influence to keep up this new nature, as there is of the
sun to preserve the horizon from that darkness which
would invade it upon the turning its face to other
parts of the world. The perpetual duration of re-
newing grace, is not essential to grace ; for then Adam
and the angels would have stood by virtue of their

OF REGENERATION. 275

grace, for nothing ever loses its essential property; but
it is by additional grace, distinct fronn the first grace,
wherein our regeneration consists; as the preservation
of the creatures in their natural beings is by an act of
God, distinct from his creative act. The first grace
God gives now, is a bounty to his creature, but it is
further an obligation upon himself, not as it is grace,
or as it is his own work, for Adam's grace which
failed, was wrought by his fingers, inspired by his
breath ; but as it is a new covenant grace, which alters
the condition of it. God's finger wrote the law in the
heart, and his breath can alone blow the dust off, that
would fill the engraved letters.

FOURTH GENERAL TOPIC.

THE

INSTRUMENT OF REGENERATION.

The gospel is the Instrument of Regeneration — Difference
between efficient and instrumental causes — The law and gospel
compared in this work — The gospel is the only and necessary
instrument, and yet nothing more than an instrument — The
mode of its operation — General inferences.

** Of his own will begat he us, with the word of truth, that we
should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures." — James i. 18.

From this passage, it is very obvious, that the gospel
is the instrument vv^hereby God brings the soul forth in
a new birth.

The Scripture distinguishes between the efficient
and instrumental causes of regeneration. We are said
to be born of God, and to be born of the Spirit, but we
are no where said to be born of the word, or begotten
of the word, but by or with the word. Sin entered
into the heart of Eve by the word of the devil ; grace
enters into the heart by the word of God; that entered
by a word of error, this by a word of truth ; " Ye are
clean through the word I have spoken to you," John
XV. 3, whereby our Saviour means the word outwardly
preached by him, for it is the word spoken by him.
Not that it had this efficacy of itself, but as an instru-
ment of their sanctification, rendering them ready to
every good work. The holiness therefore which it
begets, is called the holiness of truth, Eph. iv. 24,
opposed to the lusts of deceit, verse 22. Lusts grow
276

I

THE INSTRUMENT OF REGENERATION. 277

up from error and deceit ; and holiness of the new man

grows up from truth.

For explication, take the following propositions :
The law is not the instrument. The law taken in

fcneral for the legal administration prescribed to the
ews, was instrumental in renewing, because there
was a typical gospel in that judaical administration,
" For to us was the gospel preached as well as unto
them ;" Heb. iv. 2 ; they were evangelized, as the
word signifies : the judaical administration was com-
pounded of law and gospel; the moral law, as a cove-
nant of works: the ceremonial law, representing the
covenant of grace. The law of God, or gospel among
them, is said to convert the soul. Psa. xix. 7. But the
law, taken as a covenant of works, was not appointed
for renewing the soul ; otherwise what need had there
been of enacting another law for that work? And
those that say, the law is instrumental in conversion,
or inflaming our aflections to obedience, say, that all
the benefits by it are to be ascribed to the covenant of
grace in Christ. It is true, the law considered in
itself is preparatory to cast men down, and show them
their distance from God, and contrariety to his com-
mands: but the law without the gospel never brought
any man to Christ. Whatsoever it doth in this case, is
not of itself, but by the mingling the gospel with it,
which inspirits it to such an end. Though the law
did not encourage sin, yet it gave no help against it,
but left the soul under the dominion of it, which is
evident by the apostle's inference, '• Sin shall not have
dominion over you ; for ye are not under the law, but
under grace ;" Rom. vi. 14 ; hence the property of the
•aw, which is meant by the letter, 2 Cor. iii. 6, is to
kill, but the Spirit gives life ; that leaves under the
severity of justice, after sin had entered ; but the
spiritual administration wherein the Spirit works, is
to quicken and renew the soul, and make it able to
get above the guilt and power of sin. The apostle
therefore wholly excludes the law : " Received ye the

24

278 THE INSTRUMENT

Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of
faith ?" Gal. iii. 2. That is, the word of faith, as the
gospel is called, Rom. x. 8. By spirit, is meant saith
Calvin, the grace of regeneration, as hy faith is meant
the doctrine of faith. I might have preached (as if
the apostle had said) the works of the law till my lun^s
had been worn out, and the renewing Spirit would
never have entered into you by that fire, but it de-
scended upon you in the sweet gospel-dew. The gospel
is therefore called the " ministration of the Spirit," and
the " ministration of righteousness," 2 Cor. iii. 8, 9.
It is the chariot or vehicle, wherein the Spirit rides,
the proclamation by which it is declared, the channel
through which it is conveyed. The law discovers the
righteousness of God, as well as the gospel ; but that
demands a righteousness /rowi the creature, the gospel
confers a righteousness upon the creature ; the law
shows us God's righteousness in his nature, and grace.
The law is a hammer to break us, the gospel God's oil
to cure us ; the law makes sin live and our souls die,
" When the commandment came, sin revived, and I
died ;" Rom. vii. 9 ; the gospel makes sin die and our
souls live. The law awakens the lion, the gospel lets
out his blood. At the best the terrors of the law chain
up our furious affections, but the sweetness of gospel
mercy changes them. The law prepares the matter,
the gospel brings the new form. That was appointed
for the rule of our walk, not for the restoration of our
life. And it is the promises of mercy which ai'e
the motives to return ; rebels will not submit to their
prince, as long as they know they shall have no quar-
ter. Hue and cry make the thief fly away the faster.
By the great and precious promises we are made par-
takers of the divine nature, 2 Pet. i. 4. The promises
of the law being conditional, belong not to us without
fulfilling the condition, of which we are incapable of
ourselves. The law therefore since that fall, is de-.
structive, the gospel restorative, and the promises of
it, the cords whereby God draws us.

OF REGENERATION. 279

The gospel is this instrument. It is an instrument
to unlock the prison doors, and take them off tho
hinges; strike of the fetters, and draw out the soul to
a glorious liberty. It is by the voice of the archangel,
men shall rise in their bodies: it is by the voice of the
Son of God in the word, that men rise in their souls,
Nothing else ever wrought such miraculous changes ;
to make lions become lambs, Isa. xi. 6 ; Hos. iv. 13,
beloved idols to be cast away with indignation ; to
make its entrance like fire, and consume old lusts in
a short time ; these have been undeniable realities,
which have created both affections and astonishment
in some enemies as well as friends. It has a more
excellent instrumentality in it, than other providences
of God, because it is a higher manifestation. Every
creature conducts us to the knowledge of God, by
giving us notice of his power, wisdom, and goodness,
Rom. i. 20. The declaration of his works in the world,
is instrumental to make men seek him, Acts xvii. 27.
Every day's providence declares his patience ; every
shower of rain his merciful provision for mankind,
Acts xiv. 17 ; every day's preservation of the world
under a load of sin, manifests his mercy. The heavens
have a tongue, and the rod hath a voice ; the design
of all is to lead men to repentance, Rom. ii. 4. If
these, therefore, be some kind of instruments upon the
hearts of considering men, the gospel being a discovery
superior to all these, in manifesting not only a God of
nature, but a God of grace, must be designed to a
choicer and nobler work: the heavens and providences
are instruments to instruct us, this to renew us.

It is not a natural instrument, to work by any
natural efficacy ; as food doth nourish, the sun shines,
or the air and water cool, or as a sharp knife cuts, if
it be applied to fit matter. If it were thus natural, it
would not be of grace: though the shining of the sun,
or the healing of diseases, are acts of the goodness and
mercy of God, yet the Scripture calls them not by
that higher title of acts of grace. If the operation

feso

THE INSTRUMENT

were natural, the gospel would never be without its
effect, wheresoever it were preached; as the sun,
wheresoever it shines in any land, both enlightens and
warms. Our Saviour then would have had more
success, since the gospel could not have greater
natural efficacy than from his lips; yet the number of
his converts was probably not much above five
hundred, for so many he appeared to after his resur-
rection, 1 Cor. XV. 6, when many thousands in that
la:. 1 heard his voice, and saw his miracles. Christ,
who was always able to give himself success, would
not, perhaps for this among many other reasons, to
advance his spiritual above his corporeal presence;
and to prevent any thoughts of any natural virtue in
the word, without the power of the Spirit working by
it. Every day teaches us, that though many see the
glass of the gospel, yet few see the glory of God in that
gospel. Were it natural, then, that all that hear it
are not renewed, would be more miraculous than
that any are ; as it was more a miracle that the sun
should stand still in Joshua's time, against its natural
course of motion, than that it moves every day in the
heavens. If it were a natural instrument, it must
then have life in itself; but how can the voice of a
man, or the words and syllables in a book, be capable
of receiving spiritual life, which they must have before
they can naturally convey it to others 1 Were it a
natural instrument, it would have the same effect upon
the soul at one time, as at another. But does not
daily experience testify, that the word shines at some
particular times upon the soul with a clearer ray than
at other times, that such a soul has thought itself in
another world (as it were,) and that too when it has
been much clouded by the weakness of the instrument
declaring it 1 Lastly, were it natural, the wisest men,
men of the sharpest understandings, could not resist
it ; no man can hinder the sun's shining upon him,
when he is under the beams of it; it would warm him
whether he would or not ; yet have not such been the

OF REGENERATION. 281

most desperate opposers of it in all ages of the world,
as well as in the times of the apostles ? It is not then
a natural, but a moral instrument, which will follow
afterwards, when we come to consider how it works.
It is the only instrument appointed by God to this
end in an ordinary way. God has made a combination
between hearing and believing, Rom. x. 14 — 17, so
that believing comes not without hearing. The waters
of the sanctuary run only through the channels of the
gospel; the mines of grace are found only in the
climates of the word. Why does not air nourish I
because God did not set that, but meat, apart for such
an end : though God could, by his Almighty power,
bless air to this end, yet in an ordinary way he has
fixed his blessing on these natural causes of his own
ordaining. God' has appointed second causes for
natural operations; if we would be warm God has
appointed fire and sun to warm us ; he could do it
immediately, by spreading a lively heat in eveiry
member, as well as he gave at first a power to fire to
burn; but he uses natural instruments in natural effects,
and likewise spiritual instruments in spiritual produc-
tions. God may flow in an extraordinary way upon
the soul by a divine breath, without any instrument :
as he did immediately upon the prophets, or as he
gave light to the world the first three days of the
creation without a sun, but since only by the sun and
stars ; but God seems here to have fixed his power.
" The gospel is the power of God to salvation." Rom.
i. 16. Not that his power shall always attend it, but
that he will exert his power, at least ordinarily, only
by it ; no other organ through which the wind of the
Spirit shall blow, no other sword which the Spirit shall
manage, but this, Eph. vi. 13. Though our Saviour
prayed upon the cross for some of his greatest enemies
who had their hands imbrued in his precious blood,
though he was heard, yet his prayer was not answered
but through Peter's ministry, to grace the first spiritual
discovery of the gospel. Nothing else can have that
24*

I

282 THE INSTRUMENT

efficacy. Had every man in Israel made a brazen
serpent, and looked upon it when they had been stung,
they might have looked till they had groaned their
last, before they had met with any cure, because only
one was of God's appointing : to a cast of an eye upon
that, he had alone promised his healing virtue ; in that
only then he had lodged his power.

It is therefore a necessary instrument.

In regard of the reasonable creature there must be
some declaration. God doth not ordinarily work but
by means, and doth not produce any thing without
them which may be done with them. God doth not
maintain the creatures by a daily creation, but by
generation ; he maintains that faculty of generation
in them by the means of health and nourishment, and
that by the means of the fruits of the earth, and doth
all this according to the ordinance he fixed at the
creation, when he appointed every kind of creatures
their proper food, and bestowed his blessing upon
them, " increase and multiply." So according to the
method God hath set of men's actions, it is necessary
that this regeneration should be by some word as an
instrument : for God hath given understanding and
will to man : we cannot understand any thing, or will
any thing, but what is proposed to us by some exter-
nal objects ; as our eye can see nothing but what is
without us : so it is necessary that God by the word
should set before us those things which our under-
standings may apprehend, and our wills embrace.
Now we believe things as we conceive them true, or
disbelieve them as we conceive them false : we love,
desire, delight in things, as we conceive them honest
or profitable ; we hate, we refuse, or grieve, as we
conceive them dishonest, or troublesome, or hurtful
to us : whatever we are changed by in our under-
standings, wills and aflfections, is represented to us
under some of these considerations. To make an
alteration in us according to our nature of under-
standing, will and aflfection, it is necessary there

OF REGENERATION. 283

should be some declaration of things under those
considerations of true, good, delightful, &c. in the
highest manner, to make a choice change in every
faculty of the soul ; and without this a man cannot be
changed as a rational creatu.ie ; he will otherwise
have a change he knows not why, nor to what end,
nor upon what consideration, which is an inconceiva-
ble change in a rational creature.

It is necessary the revelation of this gospel we
have, should be made. There is a necessity of some
revelation ; for no man can see that which is not
visible, or hear that which has no sound, or know
that which is not declared. There is also a necessity
of the revelation of this gospel; since faith is a great
part of this work. How can any man believe that
God is good in Christ, without knowing that he has
so declared himself? Since the Spirit takes of Christ's
and shows it to us ; there must be a revelation of
Christ, and the goodness of God in Christ, before we
can believe. Though the manner of this revelation
may be different, and the Spirit may renew in an
extraordinary manner; yet this is the instrument
whereby all spiritual begettings are wrought ; the
manner may be by visions, dreams, by reading or
hearing, yet still it is the gospel which is revealed ;
the matter revealed is the same, though the formal
revelation, or manner, may be diflerent. Paul's
regeneration was by a vision ; for at that vision of the
light, and that voice of Christ, I suppose him to be
renewed, because of that full resignation of his will
to Christ, Acts ix. 6 ; yet the matter of the revelation
was the same, that Christ was the Messiah ; for so
Paul understands it, in giving him the title of Lord.
Though God may communicate himself without the
written word, to some that have it not, yet according
to his appointment not without a revelation of what
is in that word.

This necessity will further appear, if we consider
that it always was so. Adam and Eve were the first

2S4

THE INSTRUMENT

after the fall, wherein God constituted his church
whose regeneration and conversion were wrought by
that promise of the seed of the woman, made to them
m paradise, God surely putting an enmity in the heart
of those to whom his first promise was made ; upon
which promise a sacrifice followed. What regenera-
tion Adam had, was by this word of the gospel ; had
not Adam believed it, he would not have delivered it
to Abel; and Abel had not sacrificed, unless he had
been taught so by his father, or immediately by God;
but most likely by his father, because God does not
use extraordinary means, when ordinary will serve.
And Abel was regenerated ; for it is said, by faith he
offered this sacrifice, Heb. xi. 4; and it was faith in
Christ, faith in the promised seed; for all of them in
that catalogue, Heb. xi. did behold Christ by faith, as
well as Moses, of whom it is particularly expressed,
verse 26; that he esteemed the reproach of Christ
greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. Consider-
ing all this, it is evident, that the ancient restoration
was by the revelation of Christ and the gospel, as the
only necessary means. Abraham, it is likely, had
some external word in his father Terah's family, by
tradition from the patriarchs ; and had the revelation
of the promise made to him by God, Gen. xviii. 19.
And it was wrought then in an ordinary way, by in-
struction; for that, Abraham is commended, and no
doubt but Isaac and Jacob did the same : so that all
along this change of the heart was wrought by decla-
ration of the word of the gospel.

It is necessary by God's appointment, for all the
degrees of the new birth, and all the appendages to
it. When God shows his own glory for a further
change, he represents the species of it in the glass of
the gospel; "we, beholding as in a glass the glory of the
Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to
glorh," 2 Cor. iii. 18. It is the ministration of the
Spirit in all the acts of the Spirit. If the Spirit
quicken, it is by some gospel precept ; if it comforts,

OF REGENERATION. 285

it is by some gospel promise; if it startles, it is by-
some threatening in the word ; whatsoever working
there is in a Christian's heart, it is by some word or
other dropping upon it. If any temptation which
assaults us, be baffled, it is by the word, which is the
sword of the Spirit. The life of a Christian is made
up of increasing light, refreshing comforts, choicer
inclinations of the heart towards God ; by the same
law whereby the soul is converted, the heart is re-
joiced, and the eyes further enlightened. " The law
of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul, making
wise the simple, rejoicing the heart, enlightening the
eyes," Psa. xix. 7, 8. The Spirit makes the word
not only the fire to kindle the soul, but the bellows to
blow; it is first life, then liveliness to the soul; it is
through the word he begets us, and through the word
he quickens us, " thy word hath quickened me,"
Psa. cxix. 50, 93. It is by the word God gathers a
church in the world, by the same word he sanctifies
it to greater degrees, Eph. v. 26. It is the seed
whereby we are born, the dew whereby we are
refreshed. As it is the seed of our birth, so it is the
milk of our growth, 1 Pet. ii. 2. Faith comes by
hearing, and salvation after faith by the foolishness
of preaching, 1 Cor. i. 21. It helps us after we have
believed through grace. Acts xviii. 27. Our fruitful-
ness depends upon our plantation by this river's side.
The influence of other ordinances depends upon it.
Sacraments that nourish and increase, are not effica-
cious, but by virtue of the word ; they have their
dependence on the word, as seals upon the covenant;
the word is operative without sacraments, sacraments
are not operative without the influence of the word,
they are only assistants to it. This quickens and
increases habitual grace, as well as it was the instru-
ment first to usher it into the heart, " that he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by
the word," Eph. v. 26. As God will have the media-
tion of his Son honoured in the whole progress and

28^ THE INSTRUMENT

perfection of grace as the efficient cause, so lie will
have the word in every step to heaven honoured as
the instrumentul cause ; that as Jesus Christ is all in
all, as the chief, so the word may be all in all as the
means. As God created the world by the word of
his power, and by the word of his providence bid the
creatures increase and multiply, so by the word of
the gospel he lays the foundation and rears the build-
ing of his spiritual house.

As it is not a natural instrument, but the only in-
strument appointed by God, and therefore, upon these,
and upon other accounts, a necessary instrument; so
it is an instrument, which makes mightly for God's
glory. The meaner the appearance of the instrument,
the more evident the power and skill of the workman.
It would be miraculous for a man to raise up another
from death, by a composition of medicines syringed
down the throat, but a greater miracle to raise him
by speaking a word. In the new birth there is nothing
sensible to man but the word, the other causes are
secret, like the wind; you know not whence it comes,
nor whither it goes. The instrument being weak in
itself, none can claim any share with God in the glory
of the work. But were there a natural strength in
the means, much of the honour would be taken from
God, and assumed by the creature. It is like the
trumpet in the right hand of Gideon's soldiers, and a
pitcher with a lamp in the left, upon the blowing of
the trumpet and the breaking the pitcher, the enemies
fled, and God would have the means but small, but
three hundred of thirty-two thousand, that Israel might
not vaunt, and say, mine own arm hath saved me,
Judg. vii. 2. It had not been so admirable for Samp-
son to have killed so many with a sword or spear, or
if the walls of Jericho had fallen flat by the force of
some battering engine ; but it was wonderful to see
them tumble at the blast of rams' horns. Is it not the
same to see strong-holds, high thoughts, Goliath-like
corruptions, and spiritual death itself fly before the

OF KEGENERATIOK. 287

voice of the word ? To see a man, like the Babel
builders, swelling, and rearing up his own confidences
against God, to have all the fornner language of his
soul confounded by a word; to think of other objects,
speak in another strain, descend from self to dust,
deny pleasure, embrace a crucified Christ: that carnal
reason should be silenced, legions of devils driven out,
a massive Dagon fall before an ark of wood, that hath
nothing in it but the rod of Aaron, and the pot of
manna; in such weak means is the power of God ex-
alted, and no other cry can reasonably be heard, but
This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our
eyes. So it was more glorious for our Saviour to turn
many of the Jews to him after his death, than in his
life ; to bring them to believe by a word, upon a per-
son they had crucified as a malefactor, than if he had
brought them to believe, while he was attended with
a train of miracles: the power of his miracles might
seem in their eyes to be extinct with his death, since
he that delivered others, did not deliver himself from
the hands of his murderers: he now honours both his
own word, and their faith, in bringing them to be-
lieve by the preaching of men, who did not believe by
the word from his lips attended with the seals of so
many glorious miracles.

As it is an instrument, so it is but an instrument.
God begets by the word, the chief operation depends
upon the Spirit of God. No sword can cut without a
hand to manage it — no engine batter without a force
to drive it. The word is objective in itself, operative
by the power of the Spirit; instrumental in itself, effi-
cacious by the Holy Ghost. The word of Christ is
first spirit, and then life, " The words that I speak,
unto you they are spirit, and they are life," John vi.
63. The word is the chariot of the Spirit ; the Spirit
the guider of the word; there is a gospel comes in
word, and there is a gospel comes in power, 1 Thes.
i. 5. There is a publishing of the gospel, and there
is the "fulness of the blessing of the gospel," Rom.

288 THE INSTRUMENT

XV. 29. There was the truth of God spoken by Peter,
and Paul, and God in that truth, working in the heart,
" He that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostle-
ship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me
towards the gentiles." Gal. ii. 8. The gospel in itself
is like Christ's voice; the gospel with the Spirit is
like Christ's power raising Lazarus; other men might
have spoken the same words, but the power of rising
must come from above. It is then successful when
an inward unction drops with the outward dew, when
the veil is taken from the heart, and the curtain from
the word, and both meet together, both word and
heart; when Christ kisses with the kisses of his mouth,
and the man embraces it with the affections of his
heart. The light in the air is the instrument by which
we read, but the principle of that light is in the sun in
the heavens. The word is a rod, a breath, but effica-
cious in smiting and slaying the old man, as it is the
rod of Christ's mouth, the breath of his lips, Isa. xi.
3. A rod like that of Moses, to charm us, but as it
is the rod of his strength, Psal. ex. 2. A weapon, but
only mighty through God, 2 Cor. x. 4. A seed, but
brings not forth a plant, but by the influence of the
sun. The word hath this efficacy from the bleeding
wounds and dying groans of Christ; it is by his making
his soul an offering for sin, that he sees the travail of
his soul in his new born creatures; by his blood are
all the promises of grace confirmed ; by his blood they
are operative. The word whereby we are begotten,
was appointed by God, confirmed by Christ, and the
Spirit which begets us, was purchased by the same
blood. To conclude, the word declares Christ, and the
Spirit excites the heart to accept him. The word
shows his excellency, and the Spirit stirs up strong
cries after him. The word declares the promises, and
the Spirit helps us to plead them. The word admin-
isters reasons against our reasonings, and the Spirit
edgeth them. The word shows the way, and the
Spirit enables to walk in it. The word is the seed of

OF REGENERATION.

289

the Spirit, and the Spirit the qaickener of the word.
The word is the graft, and the Spirit the engrafter;
the word is the pool of water, and the Spirit stirs it
to make it heahng.

How doth the word work 1

Objectively; as it is a declaration of God's will.
As it doth propose to the understanding what is to be
known in order to salvation hereafter, and practice
here; as it declares the purpose of God to save only
by Jesus Christ the Mediator, and by him to deliver
us from sin, Satan, and whatsoever is contrary to
everlasting happiness; and thus is significative of
something to our minds and understandings. The
Spirit gives us an eye to see, and the word is the
light which discovers the object to the eye. The
Spirit gives us an organ, but something must be pro-
posed for that organ to exercise itself about, other-
wise there is no use of the understanding in any
rational operation, which certainly there is; for
though the object is supernatural, and the inward
work upon the mind supernatural, yet the proposal
of the object to the mind is made in a rational man-
ner. The word doth objectively propose life and
death, in a way suitable to the nature of man, that
he may rationally choose life. " I have set before you
life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose
life." Deut. XXX. 19. Both the blessings of the gos-
pel, and the curses of the law are presented in the
word, that the one may be chosen, the other avoided.
The word is proposed under various notions; as true,
and so it is the object of the speculative understand-
ing; as good, so it is the object of the practical under-
standing and will; as profitable, so it is the object of
the appetite and affections. When it is received into
the speculative understanding, it is a preparation to
the new birth; when it is received into the practical
understanding and will, it is the new birth. It dis-
covers the wonders in God's own heart, his Son, and
his promise; the Spirit demonstrates it, and gives

25

290 THE INSTRUMENT

power to embrace it ; it first presents the promise,
and then answers the pleas the stubborn neart makes
against it, yet by the same gospel ; it fetches demon-
strative arguments from that quiver to satisfy a cavil-
ling understanding, and motives from thence to over-
come a resisting will; it silences the fears, points to
the way, excites the soul to an acceptance of Christ,
all by this gospel; and so draws us, as a man draws
a child, by presenting some alluring object to him :
the Spirit immediately himself, touches the soul, but
by the word, as an instrument proposing the object,
and drawing out the soul into an actual believing.

The two chief parts of the work are,

The discovery of our misery by nature. The heart
is laid open, our putrefied condition in our own blood
evidenced, our deplorable state unfolded, and thereby
the conscience awakened to sensible reflections; it
dissects the heart, discovers the secret reserves, un-
ravels the thoughts, pursues sin to its recesses, and
pulls and brings it out, as Joshua the kings to execu-
tion. " And thus are the secrets of his heart made
manifest, and so falling down on his face he will wor-
ship God, and report that God is in you of a truth." It
opens sin to the very secrets, discovers the inward
impurity, takes off its beautiful disguise, its silken
covering, and shows the odiousness under it. It dis-
covers the forlorn estate by nature, and the insuffi-
ciency of flesh and blood to inherit the kingdom of
God. Let the word be whispered by the Spirit in the
ears of a rebel sinner, and the curtains which obscured
his sin from his eye, drawn open, that he may see
what a nest of devils he has, what astonishment will
it raise in him ! how will he stand amazed at his own
folly ! how will he loathe that self, which before he
so vehemently loved !

A second discovery is of the necessity and existence
of another foundation. It discovers our misery by
nature, and our remedy by Christ, the plague brought
upon the world by the first Adam, the cure brought

OF REGENERATION. 291

to the world by the second. It proclaims a peace
concluded between God and the hunribled sinner by
his Son the great annbassador, confirmed by his blood,
assured by his resurrection. It shows him the foun-
tain of death in his sin, the fountain of life in Christ,
the free streams and gracious communications of it.
The promise discovers the gracious nature of God,
his kindness to man, the openness of his arms to re-
ceive him ; and thus brings the soul off from itself to
the foot of God, and the bottom of the cross. When
the w^orld like fire, and the heart like tinder come close
together, the heart catches the spark and burns. From
the word reconciliation and peace step out, and meet
the soul ; it finds the kisses of Christ's mouth inspiring
it with life, the box of the gospel promises broken
open, the window of the gospel ark opened, and the
dove flying out of it into the desert heart. The word
proposes things as they are in reality, and the soul
knows things as it ought to know, 1 Cor. viii. 2. It
understands the unavoidable necessity, and the infal-
lible excellency of the things proposed. It sees the
rocks and shelves wherein the danger lies, and a com-
pass whereby to steer, a road wherein to lie safe at
anchor ; whereupon he relents for his sin, is astonished
at divine kindness, rejoices at the promise, as before
he trembled at the threatening, and has far other
thoughts of God than he had before: in which act,
divine life is breathed into the soul.

The word seems to have an active force upon the
will, though the manner of it be very hard to conceive.
It is operative in the hand of God for sanctification
the petition of our Saviour, " Sanctify them through
thy truth: thy word is truth," John xvii. 17, seems to
intimate more than a bare objective relation to this
work ; it both shows us our spots and cleanses them. It
is a seed; seed though small, is active; no part of the
plant retains a greater efficacy ; all the glory and
strength of the plant in its buds, blossoms, and fruit,
are hidden in it : the word is this seed, which being

292 THE INSTRUMENT

settled in the heart, by the power of the Spirit, brings
forth this new creature. It is a glass that not only repre-
sents the image of God, but by the Spirit changes us
into it, 2 Cor. iii. 18. A sword that pierceth the
heart, Heb. iv. 12, yea, sharper than a two edged
sword, dividing asunder the soul and spirit ; it is a
fire to burn. The Spirit does so edge the word, that
it cuts to the quick, discerns the very thoughts, in-
sinuates into the depths of the heart, and rakes up the
small sands from the bottom, as a fierce wind does
from the bowels of the sea. It is God's ordnance to
batter down strong holds ; though it be not a natural
instrument to work necessarily, yet it is likened to
natural instruments, which are active under the effi-
ciency of the agent which manages them ; and this
also, in the hand of the Spirit, works mighty effects.
The sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth,
are joined together, one subordinate to another, 2
Thess. ii. 13. The Spirit efficiently infusing holy
habits ; the word objectively and actively : objectively
as outwardly proposed; actively as inwardly engraft-
ed : it at least excites the new infused gracious prin-
ciple, and produces our actual conversion and believ-
ing. As the pronouncing excommunication, in the
primitive times, filled the person with terror ; and no
question, but upon the same account, the authoritative
pronouncing the pardon of sin by the apostles, though
only declarative, might have a mighty operation upon
the soul in filling it with joy : yet both, as managed
by the Spirit, concurring with his own ordinance. So
that the word is mighty in operation, as well as clear
in representation ; for an activity seems to be ascribed
to it by the Scripture metaphors. The chief activity
of it is seen in the likeness which it produces in the
soul to itself. Seeds have an efficacious virtue to pro-
duce plants of the same kind with that whose seeds
they ai'e : so the word produces qualities in the heart
like itself. The law in the heart, is the law in the
word transcribed in the soul ; a graft which changes

OF REGENERATION.

293

a crabbed stock into a sweet tree, James i. 21 ; like a
seal, it leaves a likeness and impression of itself; it
works a likeness to God as he is revealed in the gos-
pel : for we are changed into the same image ; — what
image? The same image which we behold in that
glass, 2 Cor. iii. 18, not his essential image, but the
image of his glory represented in the gospel for our
imitation. The word is the glory of God in a glass,
and imprints the image of the glory of God in the
heart. It is a softening word, and produces a molli-
iied heart; an enlightening word, and causes an en-
lightened soul ; a divine word, and engenders a divine
nature ; it is a spiritual word, and produces a spirit-
ual frame ; as it is God's will, it subdues our will ; it
is a sanctifying truth, and so makes a sink of sin to
become the habitation of Christ. To conclude, this
is certain, the promise in the word breeds principles
in the heart suitable to itself; it shows God a father,
and raises up principles of love and reverence; it shows
Christ a mediator, and raises up principles of faith and
desire. Christ in the word conceives Christ in the
heart ; Christ in the word, the beginning of grace,
conceives Christ in the soul, the hope of glory.

Use of information.

How admirable then is the power of the gospel ! It
is a quickening word, not a dead ; a powerful word,
not a weak; a sharp-edged word, not a dull; a piercing
word, not cutting only skin-deep, Heb. iv. 12. What
welcome work doth it make, when a door of utterance
and a door of entrance are both opened together ! It
hath a mighty power to outwrestle the principalities
of hell, and demolish the strong holds of sin in the
heart. It is a word of which it may be said, as the
Psalmist of the sun, " his circuit is to the ends of the
earth, and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof."
Psa. xix. 6. No part of the soul is hidden from a new
birth by the warm beams of it, when directed by God
to the soul. What a powerful breath is that which
can make a dead man stand upon his feet, and walk *

25*

294 THE INSTRUMENT

If you should find your faces, by looking in a glass,
transformed into angelic beauty, would you not
imagine some strange and secret virtue in that glass?
How powerful is this gospel word, which changes a
beast into a man, a devil into an angel, a clod of earth
into a star of heaven !

It is above the power of all moral philosophy. The
wisdom of the heathen never equalled the gospel in
such miracles: the poHtical government of the best
states never made such alterations in the hearts of
men. How excellent is that gospel, which has done
that for the renewing of millions of souls, which all
the wit and wisdom of the choicest philosophers could
never effect upon one heart ! All other lectures can
do no more than allay the passions, not change them;
bring them into an order fit for human society, not
beget them for a divine fellowship ; not draw them
forth out of a principle of love to God, and fix them
upon so high an end as the glory of God that is invisible.
This is the glorious begetting by the gospel, which
enables not only to moral actions, but inspires with
divine principles and ends, and makes men highly
delight in the ways they formerly abhorred. What
are a few sprinklings of changes moral philosophy
has wrought in the lives of men, to the innumerable
ones the gospel has wrought, which were such
undeniable realities, that they were never openly
contradicted by any of the most violent persecutors
of the Christian religion, and were always the most
urged argument for the truth of the gospel in the
ancient apologies for it ? How long may we read and
hear mere moral discourses, and arrive no higher than
some reformation of hfe, with unchanged hearts; have
sin beaten from the outworks, yet retain the great fort,
the heart 1

It is above the power of the law. The natural law
sees not Christ; the Mosaic law dimly shows him afar
off: the gospel brings him near, to be embraced by us,

OF REGENERATIO^.

295

and us to be divinely changed by him. The natural
law makes the model and frame of a man; the Mosaic
adds some colours and preparations ; and the gospel
conveys spirit into them. The natural law begets us
for the world ; the Mosaic kills us for God ; and the
gospel raises up to life. The natural law makes us
serve God by reason ; the Mosaic by fear ; and the
gospel by love. It is by this, and not by the law, those
three graces, which are the main evidences of life, are
settled in the soul : it begets faith, whereby we are
taken off* from the stock of Adam, and inserted in
Christ ; hope, whereby we flourish, and love, whereby
we fructify. By faith we have life; by hope, strength;
by love, liveliness and activity: all these are the fruits
of the gospel adniinistration.

Its power appears in the subjects it has been
instrumental in changing. Souls defiled by sin, have
been made miraculously clean : it has changed the
hands of rapine into instruments of charity : hearts full
of filth, into vessels of purity ; it has brought down
proud reason to the obedience of faith, and made
active lusts to die at the foot of the cross: it has struck
off* Satan's chains, and snatched away his captives
into the liberty of God's service. It has changed the
most stubborn hearts. The conversion of a great
company of those Jewish priests that were most
violent against it and the author of it, is ascribed to
the power of the word, " And the word of God
increased, and a great company of the priests were
obedient to the faith." Acts vi. 7. How many were
raised to life by Peter's sermon ! More souls turned
than words spoken upon record. It subdues the will,
which cannot be conquered but by its own consent.
Light can dart in upon the understanding whether a
man will or no, and flash in his face, though he keep
it in unrighteousness: conscience will awaken and
rouse them, though men use all the arts they can to
still it. The will cannot be forced to any submission

296 THE INSTRUMENT

against its own consent; the power of the gospel is in
the conquest of the will and putting new inclinations
into that.

The power of it is seen in the suddenness of its
operation. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
like the change at the last resurrection. How have
troops of unmastered lusts fled at the voice of the
gospel trumpet, like a flock of frightened birds, and
left their long possessed mansion ! How have the
affections, which have sheltered so many enemies
against God, been on the sudden weary of their
residence, and abhorred what they loved, and loved
what the moment before they abhorred ! How have
welcomed temptations been upon this sudden change
rejected, a despised Sa viour dearly embraced, a furious
soul tamed, a darling self crucified, and a soul open to
every temptation strongly fortified against it ! How
frequent are the examples, in the first time of
Christianity, of men that have been almost as bad as
devils one day, one hour, and joyful martyrs the next;
and as soon as ever they have been begotten by it,
asserted the power of it in another new birth by
flames !

And this has been done many times by one part, one
particle of the word. One word of the gospel, a
single sentence, has erected a heavenly trophy in a
soul, which all the volumes of the choicest mere reason
could never erect ; one plain scripture has turned a
face to heaven, that never looked that way before, and
made a man fix his eye there against his carnal
interest. One plain scripture has killed a man's sins,
and quickened his heart with eternal life ; one word
of Christ, remembered by Peter, made him weep
bitterly ; and two or three scriptures pressed by the
same Peter upon his hearers, pricked their hearts to
the quick. How has hell flashed in the face of a sinner,
out of a small ck)ud of a threatening, and heaven shot
into the soul from one little diamond spark of a promise;
a little seed of the word, like a grain of mustard seed,

OF REGENERATION.

297

changed the soul from a dwarfish to a tall stature"
This the experience of every age can testify.

And this power appears in the simplicity of it.
Savanarola observes, that when he neglected the
preaching of the scripture, and applied himself to dis-
courses of philosophy, he gained little upon the hearts
of the people; but when he came to illustrate and ex-
plain the scripture, the minds of people were wonder-
fully inflamed and excited to a serious frame. And
that when he discoursed in a philosophical manner,
there was inattention, not only of the more ignorant,
but the more learned sort too. But when he preached
scripture truths, he found the minds of men mightily
delighted, stung with divine truth, brought to com-
punction, and a reformation of their lives; which
shows, says he, the power of the word, acting more
vigorously than all human reason in the world. And
indeed. Scripture and Scripture reason is the wisdom
of God; all other reason is the wisdom of man. God
will depress man's wisdom, and advance his own. It
works as it is "the word of God, which lives and
abides for ever," 1 Pet. i. 23. To wrap a fine piece
of silk about a sword, or guild a diamond, is to hinder
the edge of the one, and the lustre of the other.

The gospel is then certainly of divine authority.
Since in this God hath set a tabernacle for the sun of
righteousness to move in; as the heavens are the
tabernacle for the material sun, Psa. xix. That
word that raises the dead, must needs be the word of
no less than God. Our Saviour's discovery of men's
thoughts argued his deity: the word's discovery of
the inward workings of the heart, and the alteration
it makes there, evidence a divine stamp upon it.
God would never have made a lie so successful in the
world, or blessed it in making those alterations in
men, so comely in the eye of moral nature, so advan-
tageous to human society as the principles it instils
into the minds of men are. A lie would never have
been blessed to be an instrument of so much virtue

THE INSTRUMENT

and truth ; it would not consist with the righteousness
of God's government, or his goodness and truth as
governor, to bring the hearts of men into so beautiful
an order by a deceitful gospel. What word ever
had such trophies? What engine ever battered so
many strong-holds? If the lame walk by the strength
of it, if the dead are raised by the power of it, if
lepers are cleansed by the virtue of it, if impure souls
are sanctified, dead souls enlivened, are we to ques-
tion its divine authority? Should a word work such
wonderful effects for so many ages, that had no stamp
of divine authority upon it? Would all those wit-
nesses be given by God to a mere imposture ? Let
the victories it has gained, evidence the arm that
wields it: what sword was used at the first conquest
of the world through grace, but this of the Spirit.
How soon was the devil, with all his heap of idols,
fain to fly before it ! How soon was the devil, with
all his pack of lusts, forced to leave his habitation in
the hearts of men! Is not that of divine authority
that so routs the enemies of God, puts sin to flight,
expels spiritual death, breaking the bands of that
worst king of terrors ; that had skill to find out sin
in its lurking holes, and power to dispossess that, and
introduce spiritual life into the soul? Can that be a
thing less than divine, that restores man to his due
place as a creature respecting his Creator, referring
all things to his glory? that implants the love, fear,
hope of God in the mind? that makes man of a misera-
ble corrupt creature to become divine ? that roots out
the vices of hell, and stores the soul with the virtues
of heaven? Can such a gospel be termed less than a
divine word of truth ? If there be any word, that can
so change the nature, and transform wolves into
lambs, let it have the honour and due praise when it is
found out; but whatsoever the atheism of the world is,
that never felt the powerful eflicacy of it, you surely
that have felt it a mighty weapon to conquer the devils
that once possessed you, and an instrument to new

OF REGENERATION. 299

beget you when you lay in your blood, should enter-
tain no whisper against the divine authority of it, but
count it the power and wisdom of God, as, indeed, it
is in itself, and in its effect upon souls, Rom. i. 16. It
is said there, to be "the power of God to salvation;"
upon that account the apostle was not ashamed of it,
neither should we; but conclude as the same apos-
tle says, if I be not an apostle, yet to you I am an
apostle; so if the gospel be not in itself the gospel
of God, surely it is so to you who have been re-
newed.

It shows us the reason why the gospel is so much
opposed by Satan in the world. It begets those for
heaven, whom he had begotten for hell. It pulls
down his image and sets up God's: it pulls the crown
off his head, the sceptre from his hand, snatches sub-
jects from his empire, straitens his territories, and
demolishes his forts, breaks his engines, outwits his
subtlety, makes his captives his conquerors, and him-
self the conqueror, a captive; it pulls men out of the
kingdom of darkness, and translates them into a king-
dom of light. Col. i. 13. And all this, as it is a word
of truth, opposed to his word of deceit, whereby he
has cheated mankind, and deceived the nations: that
we may well say of him, as the apostle of death,
"O death, where is thy sting?" 1 Cor. xv. 55. O
hell, where is thy power? O Satan, where is thy vic-
tory? This slays Satan, and revives the soul.

We see then how injurious they are to God, who
would obstruct the progress of the gospel in the
world ; who, as the papists, would hinder the read-
ing and preaching of the word. Whose seed are
they, but the seed of that dragon, that would as well
hinder the new birth, as devour a divinely-begotten
babe as soon as it ever were born ? Rev. xii, 4. Such
would hinder the greatest and most excellent work
of God upon the souls of men, would have no spiritual
generations for God in the world. Such envy Christ
a seed, and God a family, they would despoil him of

300 THE INSTRUMENT

a family on earth, though they cannot of a family in
heaven. In banishing the word, they would banish
the grace of God out of the world, and leave no
place, in a world drowned with ignorance, where
this dove should set her foot. Those that would
take away the seed would not have a spiritual harvest,
but reduce souls to a deplorable famine, lock them up
in the grave, and keep them under the bands of a
spiritual death.

It informs us, that the gospel shall then endure in
the world, as long as God has any to beget. Men
may puff at it, but they cannot extinguish it; it is a
word of truth; and truth is mighty, and will prevail.
It was a mighty wind wherein the Spirit came upon
the apostles, to show not only the quick and speedy
progress of the gospel, as upon the wings of the wind,
but the mighty force of it, that men can no more
silence the sound of the gospel than they can the
blustering of the wind. It shall prevail in all places
where God has a seed to bring in, a people to beget.
Those given to Christ shall come from far: from the
east, Isa. xlix. 12, and from the west, and from the
land of Sinim. The word, being the instrument, shall
sound every where, where he hath sons and daughters
to beget for Christ. As long as Christ doth retain his
royalty, his mouth shall be a sharp sword, Isa. xlix. 2.
That is the first thing concluded on between God and
Christ, before they come to any further treaty; which
is expressed in that chapter. As Christ shall be his
salvation to the ends of the earth, so shall the word
be the instrument of it to the end of the world, the
polished shaft is hid in his quiver. As he is a light to
the Gentiles, so the golden candlestick of this gospel
wherein this light is set, shall endure in spite of men
and devils. Since his promise of a seed to Christ
stands sure, the word, whereby he begets a generation
for him, is as sure as the promise, and shall not return
void, " but it shall accomplish that which he pleases,
and it shall prosper in the thing whereto he sent it."

OF REGENERATION. 301

Isa. Iv. 11. Never fear tlien the removal of the gos-
pel out of the world, though it be removed out of a
particular place; since it is a word of truth, and an
instrument ordained to so glorious an end.

It is a sign then God has some to regenerate, when
he brings his gospel to any place. He has a pleasure
to accomphsh, and it shall not return unto him void.
Prosperity is entailed upon it for the doing the work
whereto he sent it. Since then it is appointed an in-
strument, in the hand of the Spirit, for a new begetting,
it will be efficacious upon some souls where it comes;
for the wise God would not send it, but to attain its
main end upon some hearts. God never sends his
word to any place, but it is received and relished by
some as the savour of life. It looseth the bands of
spiritual death in some, and binds them harder upon
obstinate sinners : to them that perish it is the savour
of death. In every place the gospel was savoury to
some. " God made manifest the savour of his know-
ledge," by the apostles, " in every place." 2 Cor. ii.
14, 15. Wherever this seed is sown, the harvest has
been reaped, either more or less. It is fruitful at
Corinth, for there God has much people. Acts xviii.
10. It is not fruitless at Athens, though the harvest
was less ; most mocked, but some believed, and but
one man of learning, and worldly wisdom. Acts xvii.
32, 34. When God sends John in a way of righteous-
ness, if the pharisees believe not, God will make a
conquest of publicans harlots. " John came to you
in the way of righteousness, and you believed not :
but the publicans and harlots believed him." Matt,
xxi. 32. The net of the gospel is not cast in vain.

Prize the word of truth, which works such great
etiects in the soul. Value that as long as you live,
which is the cord whereby God has drawn any of
you out of the dungeon of death. Never count that
foolishness by which God has inspired you with the
choicest wisdom; and never count that weakness,
which has made any of you of dead, living ; of darkness,

?6

302 THE INSTRUMENT.

light ; and of miserable, happy by grace. If a soul
be worth a world, and therefore to be prized, how pre-
cious ought that to be which is an instrument to beget
a soul for the felicity of another world ! How should
the law of God's mouth be better to us, than thou-
sands of gold and silver ! Psa. cxix. 72. How should
we prize that word whereby any of us have seen the
glory of God in his sanctuary, the glory of God in
our souls ! When corruptions are strong, it is an
engine to batter them. When our hearts are hard,
it is a hammer to break them. When our hearts are
cold, it is a fire to inflame them. When our souls
are faint, it is a cordial to refresh them ; it begins a
new birth, and maintains it. It is the seed from
whence we spring, 1 Pet. i. 23, the glass, wherein we
see the glory of God, 2 Cor. iii. 18. By the waters
of the sanctuary we have both meat for nourishment,
and medicines for cure, from the tree that grows by
its streams. The fruit thereof shall be for meat, and
the leaf for medicine. Ezek. xlvii. 12. Have a great
regard to it, keep it in the midst of your hearts, for it
is life, Prov. iv. 21, 22.

Wait upon God in the word. When there is a re-
velation on God's part, there must be a hearing on
ours. Sit down therefore at the feet of God, and re-
ceive of his words, Deut. xxxiii. 3. Despise it not :
he that contemns it, never intends to be new begotten,
since he slights the means of God's appointment ; he
that intends an end, will use all means proportionably
to his desires for that end. He that contemns it never
was renewed ; habitual grace being wrought by it,
cannot but in its own nature have a great aflection to
it. He that loves Christ, cannot but love all the
methods of his operations. Despise it not because it
is but an instrument. Say not, because God is the
chief agent, therefore you need not come to the word.
Our Saviour knew that " man did not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the
mouth of God," Matt. iv. 4. Did he therefore neglect

OF REGENERATION.

303

means for preserving this life ? Because God gives
the increase, should not the husbandman plough and
sow ? If God does not work upon you by the means,
you can have no rational hopes he will do it any
other way. What though ministers can only speak to
the ear? John Baptist could do no more, whose
ministry was notwithstanding glorious in being the
forerunner of Christ. To neglect it therefore is to
double-bar your hearts against the entrance of grace,
and slight the truth which Christ brought down from
the bosom of God.

How shall we wait upon the word, so as that we
may be new begotten by it?

Wait upon the word frequently. Be often in read-
ing and hearing, and meditating on it. Men set upon
these works, as if they were afraid they should be
new born too soon, or prejudiced in their concerns
and contentments in the world ; as if they feared the
mighty wind of the Spirit should blow away their
beloved dross too fast : as if it were a matter of indif-
ference to be like their Maker. If you had gold not
thoroughly refined, would you not cast it again and
again into the fire ? If the filth be not wholly purged,
would you not use the fountain again and again?
Those that are in the sun are coloured and heated by
it, and have things more visible: those that are much
in the word, see more of the wonders, feel more of
the warmth, receive deeper impressions, are endued
with the grace and holiness of truth, have a purer
flame in their affections for heaven. How do you
know but an opportunity missed might have been the
best market ? How do you know but the Spirit might
have joined himself to the word, as Phillip to the
eunuch's chariot while he was reading? "While
Peter yet spake those words, (it is said) the Holy
Ghost fell upon all them which heard the word,"
Acts X. 44. What words ? Even the marrow of the
gospel ; " that through his name, whosoever believes
in him shall receive remission of sins," v. 43. God

304 THE INSTRUMENT

may have a portion ready for us, and we go without
it, because we are not ready to receive it. We must
not expect a raven to bring us food upon a bed of
sluggishness. Do it the rather, because you may
live to see such times, wherein Bibles may be as
much shut as they are now open, wherein (as in former
time) you may be willing to give a large parcel of
your goods for one chapter of it. We read of some
that have given a load of hay for one chapter of St.
James. Be frequent in waiting upon the word.

Let your hearts be fixed upon that which is the
great end of the word. New begettings are the end
of the gospel ; come then with minds fixed upon this
end, and desires for it. Regard it not as a mere sound
of words, but as an instrument of the noblest opera-
tions in the soul. If this be the great work of the
gospel, we ought to read and hear it with desires to
be enlivened where we are dead, quickened where
we are dull ; be made new creatures, where we are
yet but old ; taller creatures where we are yet but of
a low stature ; not only to have our understandings
instructed, but our hearts changed. To "inquire after
God, to behold the beauty of the Lord," Psa. xxvii.
4 ; that we may be transformed into it : to look for
God who is in the word of the truth ; for the kingdom
of God comes nigh to you in the gospel ; that was the
word, that Christ when he sent his disciples out first
to preach, bid them speak unto men, Luke xii. 9.
Men usually get no more than they come to seek.
He that goes to market, intending only to lay out his
money upon some trifle, returns for the most part
with no better commodity. Zaccheus got upon the
tree to meet Christ, and so noble an end wanted not
an excellent success ; that day came salvation into his
house, Luke xix. 9. When the Jews did not mind
the end of sacrifices, and regarded not the things God
principally looked for in them, God slighted them, and
they went without any divine operations upon their
souls by them, Isa. i. 11, 13, 14. When our ends suit

OF REGENEEATION. 305

the gospel, then we are like to feel gospel influences.
We come with wrong ends, and therefore return with
unchanged hearts ; we come for a sound, and go away
with no more. Our end therefore in coming should
be to gain this new begetting, or increase the growth
of the new creature ; our ends are not else conforma-
ble to the ends of God in it; therefore, as the earth
sucks in the rain, and the roots in the earth attract it
unto themselves that they may bring forth fruit ; so
should we open our hearts to receive the showers of
the word with an aim at a new birth, or a further
growth.

Mind the word in the simplicity of it, and that in
it, which tends to that end. Some men are more
taken with colours, than truth ; more enamoured with
words than matter, fill themselves only with air, and
neglect the substance. Such are like those that are
pleased with the colours of the rainbow, more than
with the light reflected, or the covenant of God repre-
sented by it. No man is renewed by phrases and
fancies, those are only as the oil to make the nails of
the sanctuary drive in the easier, in Eccles. xii. 11,
acceptable words joined wath words of truth, are as
the fastening of the nails, both given by one shepherd.
Words then must be to make things intelligible ; illus-
trations to make things delightfully intelligible, but
the seminal virtue lies not in the husk and skin, but
in the kernel, the rest dies, but the substance of the
seed lives, and brings forth fruit ; separate therefore
between the husk and the seed. The word does not
work as it is elegant, but as it is divine, as it is a
word of truth. Illustrations are but the ornaments
of the temple, the glory of it is in the ark and mercy-
seat. It is not the engraving upon the sword cuts,
but the edge; nor the key, as it is gilt, opens, but as
fitted to the wards. Your "faith must not stand in
the wisdom of men, but in the power of God," 1 Cor.
ii. 5 ; it is the juice of the meat, and not the garnish-
ings of the dish, that nourishes. Was it the word as
26*

306 THE INSTRUMENT OF REGENERATION.

a pleasant song, or as a divine seed tiiat changed the
souls of old, made martyrs smile in the midst of
flames? It was the knowledge of the excellency of
the promise, and not worldly eloquence, made them
with so much courage slight gibbets, stakes, and
executioners; they had learned the truth as it is in
Jesus.

Before you wait upon God in any ordinance, plead
with him as Moses did in another case, to what pur-
pose should I go, unless thy presence go with me ?
What can the letter do without the Spirit, or words
without that powerful wind to blow them into my
heart 1 None can have life by the bread of the word,
without the blessing of God ; as man brings the graft,
desire God to insert it. And may we receive the
truth with cordial affection, and live under its divine
influence to the praise and glory of God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE END.